US imposes sanctions on Syrian armed group linked to Turkey

World

Published: 2021-07-29 14:04

Last Updated: 2024-03-26 20:38


Source: France24
Source: France24

The United States Wednesday imposed sanctions on a Syrian armed group that killed a Kurdish politician during the Turkish incursion in 2019, vowing to continue seeking accountability in the war-torn country.

The United States has also taken action against two men accused of financing extremists in Syria, one of whom is a resident of Turkey, as well as five officials in prisons belonging to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad for torturing detainees.

The Treasury Department said it would freeze assets and ban US dealings with Ahrar al-Sharqiya, an armed group that came to light with Turkey sending troops into northern Syria in October 2019 after talks with former President Donald Trump.

The United Nations human rights office said fighters from this group pulled 35-year-old Syrian Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf out of her car and shot her in what could be a war crime.

The Treasury added that the group has killed hundreds more since 2018 in a prison under its control near Aleppo, and has incorporated former members of Daesh.

"These sanctions today should serve as a reminder that the United States will use all of its diplomatic tools to advance accountability for people who have committed abuses against the Syrian people," said Amy Katrona, a senior State Department official in charge of Syrian affairs.

"These sanctions come as violence escalates in northwest Syria. The United States continues to call for an immediate nationwide ceasefire and de-escalation of violence in Syria," she told reporters.

The Treasury Department took measures against five prison officials and eight prisons, where it estimated that 14,000 people had been tortured to death.

Sanctions were also imposed on Hasan al-Shaaban, an alleged al-Qaeda fundraiser based in Turkey, and Faruk Furkatovich Vaizimatov, who is accused of financing the HTS coalition.

The United States has complex relations with Turkey, with Trump showing support for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he linked the Syrian Kurds who led the U.S.-backed fight against Daesh to local Kurdish separatists.

But the administration of President Joe Biden strongly criticized Turkey on a number of fronts, the latest of which was linked to Cyprus, and at the same time welcomed Turkish offers to protect the international airport in Kabul with the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.