Syria regime launches mass arrest campaign in Deir Ezzor

A view from an Ataa Refugee Camp, where civilians are displaced by the attacks of Bashar Assad regime as they struggle with harsh winter conditions in Idlib, Syria [İzzeddin Kasim – Anadolu Agency]

The Syrian regime forces have carried out a massive campaign of arrests in the city of Deir Ez-Zor and its surroundings in eastern Syria, and taken the arrested young men to compulsory military service.

Local sources said the Syrian forces raided homes, schools and markers, and even erected checkpoints and arrested dozens of people, including school and university students in Deir Ez-Zor and its surroundings.

Some of the arrested young men have already obtained an exemption to delay army service because they are still studying at universities, the sources said, noting that the regime’s security men often use these detainees to extort money from their families in return for releasing them.

The campaign of arrests began on Saturday morning, and is still continuing.

For their part, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia arrested dozens of young men in areas under its control in Deir Ezzor Governorate during the recent period and forced them to join its ranks.

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