Voices from Shehba

This report presents harrowing eyewitness accounts of human rights violations committed against internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing the Shehba Region after attacks by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) in December 2024. These testimonies, collected from Kurdish, Yazidi, and Christian individuals, reveal widespread atrocities, including killings, beheadings, kidnappings, and forced displacement. The accounts paint a grim picture of targeted violence, systemic persecution, and humanitarian suffering endured by vulnerable populations.

The Shehba Region, home to a diverse population of Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, Yazidis, and Christian converts, became a sanctuary for over 65,000 IDPs following the 2018 Turkish invasion of Afrin. However, the region’s separation from the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) has left it exposed to ongoing assaults and human rights abuses by Turkish-backed forces. These attacks have forced thousands to embark on perilous journeys to seek safety in DAANES-controlled areas, enduring unimaginable hardships along the way.

This report aims to shed light on the suffering of these communities, amplify their voices, and call for urgent international action to address the human rights violations occurring in the Shehba Region. The accounts were collected between December 5 and December 7, 2024, through interviews conducted by journalists at the Rojava Information Center and direct testimonies shared with the author. Each account underscores the urgent need for protection and humanitarian assistance for these displaced individuals.

Eyewitness Accounts Collected from IDPs fleeing the Shehba Region after attacks from Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) December 5-7, 2024

Interview 1: AA KURD

Kurdish man shared, “We have seen everything it is an epic,they sent those people to us they are killing, slaughtering and torturing us, they tortured and slaughter children, they captured a woman and slaughtered her in front of me, a man told me that they slaughtered his wife in front of him. In Serdem camp they slaughtered and shot most the people there without a reason. I have been looking for my family for two days and I don’t know were are they. When we left Shehba we were terrified but when we reached SDF region we felt safe. We are human, we’re calling for our rights for humanity, we want to be safe we want our children to be in a safe place.” 

(Account given December 5, 2024)

Interview 2: AB KURD

Kurdish man shared that “HTS and SNA group were beating, killing and slaughtering people. I saw that with my own eyes.” 

He continued, “It’s not true that these attacker group claim they are not harming people. They beat, kill, and slaughtered several people. On my way here, I saw several dead bodies next to the road. When we were coming to northeast Syria, they shot at our cars.” 

(Account given December 5, 2024)

Interview 3: WD KURD

A Kurdish man shared, “They invaded Til Rifaat and kidnapped a woman because her husband is in the armed forces, so they cut off the woman's head. In front of the people who were there, they cut off her head! Yes, right there! The man's here, all he's got left are his two children. They just approached the people and shot them by guns. On the road we saw bodies on the side of the road, we saw three bodies on top of each other that they'd tried to burn. We were scared to death. How could we live with them?” 

He continued, “We saw a young man being taken out of his car, they insulted him in front of his wife, in front of his little child, they hit him and stripped him naked, then they took him with his car. Why, we don’t know.” While going through checkpoints, they said, “You Kurds are atheists/ unbelievers. You Kurds are pigs. You are nothing. You are the dirt of the mankind. Our goal is to kill you. We are the soldiers of the god. We have come to clean the earth from you.” 

He claims that during the 48 walk to safety, several people died, including 12 children. 

(Account given December 5, 2024)

Interview 4: BS YAZIDI

He is a Yazidi man originally from the village of Feqir in Afrin. He said in Til Rifaat, he saw several people beheaded. When they fled, many did not even have their shoes on. He shared the difficulties of the 4-day journey, especially for mothers and the elderly. He even mentions someone dying and being buried on the way. 

“Maybe some of us had tractors and could load up their things on their tractors, but most of us are walking from Şhebha until Aleppo! We are walking with all of our things. Even people that had sheep, their sheep were being stolen. From all our people who are walking with their belongings on their backs, their things are getting stolen from them.” 

Once they reached Aleppo, they heard many slurs, with one threatening “we will cut off your head!” They were able to get cars to take them to the northeast cities of Tabqa and Manbij. 

(Account given December 5, 2024)

Interview 5: SB KURD

A Kurdish woman shared, “It was really hard, I don’t wish this thing on anyone, we were scared, and tired the free army [SNA] were among us they were taking our children, we couldn’t do anything. They took two of my family members and I don’t know where they are now. They were telling us, “you left Afrin and you left Shehba too, just wait for us we will come to Raqqa too.” And doing hand gestures like we will slaughter you and kill you. One of my family member he was coming from a village and he reached a checkpoint he thought that this is our checkpoint from the SDF, when he reached there he found out that it was the SBA checkpoint, and now it’s been a week we didn’t hear anything about him, we don’t know if he’s dead or alive…We were terrified before we arrived to the last our checkpoint, a man with long beard started threatening us and telling us that he will kill us, and they took a young girl with them, we don’t know where she is now. She was fourteen.” 

(Account given December 5, 2024)

Interview 6: IS YAZIDI

He is a Yazidi who is part of the Human Rights Association of Afrin and is among those who fled Shebha after clashes. 

He said, “Even now, armed groups are restricting movement, now allowing people to leave their homes or approach the rescue convoys. As a result, it is difficult to establish contact with the people there. The families still in these areas are constantly asking how they can leave, sending messages pleading for rescue. They report that the situation has worsened, with killings, beatings, slaughtering and widespread arrests taking place. People are being arrested on a large scale.” 

(Account given December 5, 2024)

Interview 7: KB 

Kurdish woman shared, “We were in Afrin, and then we fled to Shehba, we were living in the camp, the mercenaries attacked us from several sides. We fled from the camp, we stayed for a week in middle of the wild with no food, no water. We sneaked into so many villages and towns in roads just to get here. Here in Qamishlo our situation is good for now. We have reached to our people.” 

(Account given December 5, 2024) 

Interview 8: Shiraz Hamou, Kongra Star Coordinator in Tabqa 

From meeting with IDPs as they arrived, she shared “These armed groups have harassed and harmed women. In one incident, a group took a three-year-old boy from his mother. Women have witnessed the killing, slaughtering, and injuring of people. It took two to three days for people to reach NES, during that time, the women experience incredibly dangerous and traumatic circumstances. They see their husbands, brothers, and sisters being beaten—this is severe harm. As some have also been kidnapped.” 

(Account given December 6, 2024)

Interview 9: Souad Hasso, Syrian Yazidi Union

Receiving reports from Yazidi IDPs, he shared, “On the road, Yazidi families experienced violence. Ahmed Husso was killed. His wife was injured, so was her brother. […] Many haven’t reached here. There is still no information on who has reached where.” 

(Account given December 6, 2024)

Interview 10: CB

Christian Convert arriving to Aleppo shared, “There were liquidation campaigns that took place silently, away from the cameras. A civilian car was heading east of the Euphrates, and gunmen opened fire on it. It was a civilian car with women and children in it, some of them were wounded, and the others were killed. There was a group of them who were beating citizens and threatening to slaughter them because they were Kurds and Shiites. They say if it weren't for the intervention of HTS forces, there would be massacres.” 

(Account given December 7, 2024)

About the Shehba Region

In 2016, the Shehba Region was captured from the then Free Syrian Army (FSA) now the SNA, becoming part of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) under the protection of the Syrian Democratic Forces. After the 2018 Turkish invasion of Afrin, over 65,000 IDPs from Afrin fled here, joining 25,000 local residents. The loss of Afrin caused Shebha to become geographically separated from the rest of DAANES. Its diverse population includes Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, Yazidis, and some Christian converts.

Methodology

Most IDPs had their account recorded and transcribed by journalists at the Rojava Information Center at my request as they arrived in Tabqa, Syria, and some have also been used in their reporting. I personally collected an account given through a translator from a Christian convert arriving in Aleppo.

Nadine Maenza is President of IRF Secretariat and a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center. She is the former Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). She serves as Chair of the Board of The Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) and on the boards of The Sinjar Academy and Freedom Research Foundation, her partner on the ground in Syria. These opinions are her own.