Citing local sources, ANHA reported on Tuesday that 12 people had been kidnapped from the Turkish-occupied Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) region.

According to the report, the so-called “Military Police” mercenaries attacked the town of al-Tirkmen, 17 km south of Gire Spi, and kidnapped 12 residents today.

Two minors, reportedly brothers, are said to be among those abducted who were taken to the “anti-terror” department established by the invaders in the occupied canton.

Kidnapping local people and demanding ransom in return for their release is one of the main methods of raising cash for the Turkish-allied mercenaries in Gire Spi since the occupation of the region in 2019.

According to reports, Ebu Rabi El İdlib, head of the “anti-terror” department, gets a thousand dollars to release a citizen kidnapped by the mercenaries.

One of the areas occupied by Turkey in northern Syria is the region of Girê Spî. The formerly multicultural, self-governing region was occupied by Turkey in October 2019 and has been controlled by the Turkish intelligence service and jihadist mercenaries since. According to the Girê Spî Cantol Council, more than 100,000 people had to flee the region after the Turkish invasion. People loyal to the Turkish regime are resettled in their place as the Turkish state is pursuing an intensive settlement policy, systematically expelling the Kurdish population from the occupied areas. According to the ANHA news agency, Turkey has settled more than 22,000 refugees in the occupied Girê Spî Canton since April 2022.