Assailants torch Kurdish opposition party office in Rojava: Monitor
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An office of the largest Kurdish opposition party in Syria was set on fire on Monday by suspected members of a group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a war monitor reported.
“Unidentified persons set fire to the office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Syria [PDK-S] in the town of Mabada in Hasaka countryside, causing damage to the office,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.
The Revolutionary Youths, a PKK-affiliated group, is accused of being behind the attack, the monitor added.
Offices of the PDK-S, the backbone of the Kurdish National Council (ENKS), are frequently attacked by PKK-affiliated groups in northeast Syria (Rojava). Last week, their Kobane office was attacked by suspected Revolutionary Youths members.
The ENKS and Rojava’s ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) have been at odds for several years, with the ENKS accusing the PYD of being unwilling to share power and of detaining their members. The PYD claims that ENKS, which is a member of the Turkey-backed Syrian opposition coalition, serves Ankara’s agenda.
The Revolutionary Youths has not immediately commented on the incident.
Despite the two sides having met several times under American supervision, the dispute between them has yet to be settled.
On Friday, the US embassy in Syria said it was “troubled” by attacks on ENKS offices in northern Syria and called for the attacks to stop.
“Unidentified persons set fire to the office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Syria [PDK-S] in the town of Mabada in Hasaka countryside, causing damage to the office,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.
The Revolutionary Youths, a PKK-affiliated group, is accused of being behind the attack, the monitor added.
Offices of the PDK-S, the backbone of the Kurdish National Council (ENKS), are frequently attacked by PKK-affiliated groups in northeast Syria (Rojava). Last week, their Kobane office was attacked by suspected Revolutionary Youths members.
The ENKS and Rojava’s ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) have been at odds for several years, with the ENKS accusing the PYD of being unwilling to share power and of detaining their members. The PYD claims that ENKS, which is a member of the Turkey-backed Syrian opposition coalition, serves Ankara’s agenda.
The Revolutionary Youths has not immediately commented on the incident.
Despite the two sides having met several times under American supervision, the dispute between them has yet to be settled.
On Friday, the US embassy in Syria said it was “troubled” by attacks on ENKS offices in northern Syria and called for the attacks to stop.