Killing of a Folk Artist and Arrest of Two Family Members in Sheikh Maqsoud Neighborhood, Aleppo

The “Afrin Now” network reported yesterday, Monday, the killing of folk artist Mohammad Habib in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of Aleppo city, and the arrest of two members of his family while his body was being transported to the Afrin area.

The network, which covers news from the Afrin region, stated that Mohammad Habib was killed last Saturday after succumbing to injuries caused by shrapnel resulting from shelling carried out by government forces on the western part of the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood.

It added that while Habib’s body was being transferred on Sunday to the countryside of the Afrin region, government forces at the entrance to the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood arrested his son Qassem Habib and his son-in-law Ramadan Hasko, noting that their fate remains unknown to this moment.

The Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, both predominantly Kurdish areas in the city of Aleppo, witnessed violent clashes between the Asayish forces and government forces, which lasted from last Tuesday until Saturday. The clashes ended with the withdrawal of fighters to areas east of the Euphrates, in accordance with understandings reached between northern Syria and Damascus.

In a related context, human rights organizations called on the Syrian authorities to open an investigation following the circulation of a video clip showing individuals who participated in the clashes in Aleppo throwing a body from a high balcony. Kurdish forces said that the body belongs to a female fighter in their ranks, according to what was reported by the Agence France-Presse (AFP).