The number of Democratic Union Party (PYD) militia members, the main fighting component in the Syrian Democratic Forces killed have increased in recent weeks with the during the intensification of the fighting with the Islamic State forces inside al-Raqqah.
Tens of supporters and family members attended funeral marches in the areas of Hasakah, Raqqa and east of Aleppo.
Local sources reported that dozens of bodies of fighters arrived from al-Raqqa to several areas in al-Hasakah. The PYD recruited those killed in the fighting as salaried fighters or forcibly to the benefit of the global coalition forces. The expanding battle fronts forced the PYD to recruit more fighters to fight at its long fronts in Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir Ez Zor.
The sources added that dozens of bodies were stored in the refrigerator in Maksoudi near Musheirfa neighborhood and then moved towards al-Hasakah from the al-Raqqah fronts. Those fronts witnessed fierce battles between the Islamic State forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces led by PYD with Global Coalition support.
Speaking to Ammar Johmani, the source explained that about 50 members of the military lines subordinate to the al-Malikya area were killed more than a week ago in the old city neighborhoods of Raqqa in a mistaken air raid by the Coalition aircraft. Many of the remaining fighters, due to participate in the battle to gain control of Raqqa, fled as a result of the air strike.
Due to the numerous deaths and the PYD authorities not handing over the bodies to their relatives for burial, limited clashes erupted between the families of the deceased fighters during a funeral procession towards the al-Daoudiyah cemetery near the city of al-Hasakah. The clashes erupted after the military police objected to mourners repeating the chant, “Allah Akbar (God is Great)” during the funeral procession. The police asked the mourners to limit their chants to “Shahid Namran” which means “The Martyr Never Dies”.
The clashes during the funeral procession resulted in the death of one Kurdish Party staff member due to a knife wound and the injury of dozens of civilians at the hands of PYD militants.
In July 2017, the party and its multiple militias released the names of more than 100 people killed in battles against the Islamic State forces in Raqqa apart from those killed in explosions and clashes in different parts of Hasakah. In one such incident, a commander of Turkish nationality was killed at the hands of the members of the al-Minajir checkpoint based on their suspicion of his car when it passed through the town of al-Minajir.
