Despite the “humanitarian ceasefire” resolution by the United Nations (UN), the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and their allied FSA forces continued to attack Afrin on the 39th day. Dozens of civilians have lost their lives in the attacks where incidents of looting of the villagers’ property had taken place before.

Villagers from Qurnê and Dersêwan who were subjected to TAF and FSA attacks and had to seek refuge in the Naza village in Afrin’s Bilbilê district spoke to Mezopotamya News Agency about how the TAF and FSA forces looted and pillaged their homes and abducted people.

“THEY WOULD KILL OUR CHILDREN”

75 years old Mihemed Nurî from the Qurnê village said they had to go to the Naza village to save their lives due to the mortar fire on their home during the first days of the attacks. Nurî spoke in tears about the tyranny they experienced:

“They attacked our homes with mortars. So we had to go to the Naza village 10 km from ours. Because there was no way we could live anymore. We barely got ourselves here. They are murdering civilians. If we didn’t come here, they would have killed our children.”

Nurî said that when he returned a day after he left with his family to pick up some things from the house, he saw that the whole village had been plundered.

WOUNDED BROTHER NOT HEARD FROM FOR DAYS

Nurî said his 50 years old brother Hüseyin Nurî was wounded on his chest during the attacks but refused to leave the village, and has since been abducted by the TAF and FSA forces. Nurî hasn’t heard from his brother since, and fears he may have been executed.

The Naza village the villagers sought refuge in is also targeted in the attacks. The village is frequently fired on by artilleries.

“A WAR OF PLUNDER AND THEFT”

38 years old Dersêwan villager Mistefa Xelîl who also sought refuge in the village said along with his family, he still feels safer in Naza. Xelîl said the TAF and FSA groups are plundering and stealing, and continued: “When they entered Dersêwan, they looted the homes and property of villagers. This is not just a war, this is blatantly a war of plunder and theft. These people are not fighting, they are stealing and massacring people. They cleared out all the homes. They came with trucks and took the belongings they pillaged to Azaz and Kilis. We are here now, where will we go? But we are not afraid of them.”

MIGRATED FOR A SECOND TIME

Another family that sought refuge in the Naza village from Dersêwan is the Henan family. The Henan family fled the war in Aleppo three years ago to settle in Afrin. The 7 members of the family have had to migrate one more time due to the current TAF and FSA attacks. On why they had to leave their village, 37 years old Ismehan Henan said: “We came from Aleppo, and now they plundered everything we have here. We used to have 3 houses, we were families living normally. The children were afraid of the mortar shells. So we had to leave. My brother’s house is here, so we came.”

“THEY TAKE OUR BELONGINGS TO TURKEY TO SELL THEM”

Henan accused the TAF and FSA of pillaging and said: “They are taking all our belongings to Azaz and Kilis, they take them to Turkey to sell them. They have stolen the food from our children’s mouths.”