Ahmet Polad, a writer for Kurdistana Azad, and international journalist Eva Maria Michelmann, who were in Raqqa during the city’s attack by the armed forces of al-Shara’s Syrian Transitional Government (STG), have been unaccounted for since January 18, 2026.

Reports indicate that the journalists, who were in the city to monitor developments and report on the attacks by the Syrian army, were last seen taking refuge in a DAANES building along with civilians.

According to information gathered from sources:
On the 18th, as Tabqa had fallen and Raqqa was under attack, SDF forces took action to rescue civilians. However, they were unable to reach the area where the two journalists were sheltering. SDF commanders contacted forces in the vicinity and were negotiating the safe evacuation of civilians trapped in the besieged building. Meanwhile, electricity and internet access were cut off, and contact with the group, which included the two journalists, was lost. After negotiations that lasted late into the night, an agreement was reached, and the people inside the building left in groups according to the terms of the agreement, eventually reaching the area where SDF forces were located. Some of those who left the building made it to the SDF forces guarding Al-Aqtan Prison near Raqqa.

Due to the lack of electricity and internet, as well as the subsequent attack on the prison, there was no news from Polad and Michelmann for an extended period. It was initially believed that the entire group trapped in Raqqa’s city center had reached the prison. However, when telephone communication was reestablished a few days later, it became clear that the two journalists were not among those who had made it to the prison. It was then suspected that Polad and Michelmann may have been taken prisoner by STG forces or insurgents after leaving the besieged building. Some members of the same group, who were in the convoy that left Al-Aqtan Prison and reached Kobanê, reported that after the final groups left the building, STG forces placed Polad and Michelmann in a vehicle, and they were never seen again.

Since the beginning of the STG forces’ attacks on the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo on January 6, until the signing of the agreement on January 29, hundreds of people, both military and civilian, have disappeared. It is unclear whether they were taken into custody by the STG forces or executed, as many others have been. Despite a promise from the STG to proceed with a prisoner exchange more than two weeks ago, this has not occurred, and on Wednesday, families of prisoners held a demonstration in Qamishlo to demand the immediate release of their loved ones.

As People’s Bridge, we call on everyone to act swiftly to clarify the fate of the missing persons and those captured by the forces of the al-Shara Interim Government, especially international journalist Eva Maria Michelmann and Ahmet Polad.

We urge the German government to press the Interim Government for clarification regarding the fate of Eva Maria Michelmann.

We call on all solidarity-based international institutions, organizations in Europe, press and journalist associations and unions, intellectuals, and the democratic public to fight relentlessly until the fate of the prisoners is clarified and they are released.