Al-Qaeda Kidnaps At Least 120 Kurdish Civilians in Aleppo

After Ousting al-Qaeda From Kurdistan, Kurds Elsewhere a Target

Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) continues its campaign against the Kurdish minority in Syria’s Aleppo Province today, kidnapping at least 120 Kurdish civilians from Ihras, near the Azaz border town.

The civilians were marched out of the town by AQI, and their whereabouts are now unknown. These 120 are in addition to the 51 Kurds kidnapped by AQI late last week.

Those civilians were all taken from Aleppo Province as well, showing that while Kurdish militias have successfully ousted AQI from Syrian Kurdistan, Kurds outside of their autonomous region are becoming a growing target.

UN officials have reported that abductions in general are on the rise in Syria, with not just Kurds but secular rebels and journalists becoming popular targets in recent weeks.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.