Kurdish forces of the People's Protection Units (YPG [7]) are continuing to press gains against ISIS in northern Syria—even as the "Islamic State" is defeating government forces in both Syria and Iraq, taking the cities of Ramadi [8] and Palmyra [9] in recent days. On May 19, the YPG reported taking a number of villages and farms in the southern countryside of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) in northeast Syria's Hassakeh governorate. The YPG advance was supported by US-led air-strikes. (ARA News [10], May 20) The gains come as ISIS continues its campaign of ethnic cleansing against Assyrian Christians [11] in Hassakeh. The YPG has formed an alliance with two Christian military formations, the Syriac Haras al-Khabur and Assyrian Military Council, now fighting ISIS for the towns of Sere Kaniye and Tel Temir. (ARA News [12], April 23)
On April 29. the YPG General Command issued a statement honoring the Assyrian commander of Haras al-Khabur, David Jendo, after his assassination by presumed ISIS militants. "We in the General Command of the YPG, the Syriac Military Council and Haras al-Khabur forces consider this to be a crime against all the ethnic and religious groups in the region, especially simce the assassination coincided with the anniversary of the Assyrian genocide of Sayfo," the statement read. (ARA News [13], April 30) (Sayfo [14] is the Assyrian word for the genocide carried out against their people by Turkish forces in World War I.)
Amid these developments, Syria Direct [15] on May 20 cites the Assyrian Democratic Organization Facebook page to the effect that Christians are being forced to flee Hassakeh by Kurdish militia forces, with a home blown up in Amouda. It is strongly implied that the YPG was behind the bombing. This strikes us as highly incongruous with all other reports we are getting from Hassakeh. Syria Direct's link to the Facebook page in question does not work; nor can we find any "Assyrian Democratic Organization" Facebook page (only a Wikipedia entry that is mirrored on FB [16]). The Assyrian Democratic Organization's own website [17] does not seem to contain this report.
Up till now, we have found the Syria Direct website trustworthy. We hope they have not got so caught up in the Arab-versus-Kurdish divide-and-rule stratagem [18] as to be spreading disinformation... We appeal to both Syria Direct and the Assyrian Democratic Organization for some clarity.
