YPG/PKK sets farming lands ablaze to intimidate Arab locals

The YPG/PKK terrorist organization has set fire to agricultural lands in Syria in a bid to intimidate Arab locals, local sources said on Thursday.

Hundreds of hectares of agricultural owned by Arab farmers were charred in Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zor -- areas east of the Euphrates River under YPG/PKK occupation -- over the course of four days, the source said.

"We consider the YPG/PKK responsible for these fires," Abu Mohammad, the owner of a burned farm in Deir-ez-Zor, told Anadolu Agency.

Local residents said the incidents took place in Arab-majority regions that held anti-terror organization demonstrations.

The sources said the aim of the blazes was to impoverish Arab farmers who did not want to sell their crops to the terror group and bring their young people to join the group.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, resulting in the deaths of nearly 40,000 people.

The YPG has managed to occupy one-third of Syria under the guise of fighting against Daesh with U.S. air support.

The U.S., which considers the PKK a terrorist organization, changed the YPG's name to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in July 2017 in order to dissociate it with the PKK.

In the last two years, Turkey's Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations liberated the region from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians to return to their homes.