According to the ANHA news agency, the jihadist militia Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) abducted a total of six civilians from the villages of Baay, Xezawiyê (also al-Ghazzawiyah) and Basûfanê in occupied Afrin. Apparently, the six people were abducted on the orders of Mohammed al-Qalamuni. Al-Qalamuni is known for his close ties to the Turkish intelligence service MIT.

In May, the Turkish occupation forces started to move mercenaries from HTS from Idlib to Afrin. HTS is a jihadist alliance dominated by the former Syrian offshoot of Al-Qaeda, the notorious terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra, from which the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) also emerged in important parts. HTS is supported, financed and partly controlled by both Turkey and Qatar. The HTS jihadists were mainly brought to the areas around the districts of Sherawa and Jindires where Turkey is pursuing the strategy of establishing a jihadist buffer zone from the south of Afrin to the west of Manbij and Kobanê in order to contain the guerrilla war against occupation and prepare for the expansion of the occupied areas.

Following the NATO meeting in Madrid, Spain on June 30, the Turkish state has increased its crimes against the people in North and East Syria, specifically in the regions it has occupied together with jihadist allies.

According to the Afrin-Syrian Human Rights Organization, Turkey has increased its crimes of killing, kidnapping and harassing citizens in the occupied regions in order to displace the local population and to undermine the security of the region. Moreover, the Turkish state, which threatens to invade Til Rifat and Manbij, is currently targeting the civilian people with tanks, bombings and fighter jets.

The spokesperson of the Afrin Human Rights Organization, İbrahim Şêxo, remarked that the Turkish state was not satisfied with the occupation of Afrin, Serekaniye and Girê Spi, and sought now to expand its occupation toward other regions.

“The invaders are committing all kinds of crimes in the areas they have occupied and they have increased criminal acts especially after the NATO meeting on June 28. It is reported that 11 Kurdish citizens have been kidnapped, and an elderly person killed in Afrin since. In the meantime, Turkey is threatening to invade other parts of Syria,” Şêxo said.