According to local sources, 14 people have been abducted from villages in Afrin in recent days. In the district of Mabeta, Elî Ebo from the village of Kaxirê and Ebdo Hesîko from Mîrkan were arrested by the Turkish intelligence service MIT and taken to an unknown location. Tolîn Îbrahîm was kidnapped by jihadists who function as "political security" in the Turkish occupation regime.

Jihadist militiamen also kidnapped Şêx Mûse Xelîl in Şera district; Mihemed Seydo, Ebdulrehman Birîmce (57), Ebdullah Xelîl Murad (53) and Şamîran Xelîl Hac Ebdo in Jindires district; Hisên Henan Beyram (47) in Bilbil district; Rizgar Fewzî Ekaş in Mabeta, and Osman Ebdîn Reşîd and Mihemed Omer Heyder in Şiyê district.

Crimes against humanity are systematically taking place in the occupied territories in northern and eastern Syria. This is also evidenced by new statistical data from the Afrin Human Rights Organization. According to this, six people were murdered and 95 kidnapped in the months of October and November alone. One of the murdered people and eight of the abductees were women.

Kidnapping: Mercenaries' business model

Kidnapping is part of the business model of mercenary forces commanded by the Turkish state. Time and again, civilians are kidnapped and released for ransom. Those released report severe mistreatment in the torture cellars of the Turkish secret service MIT. Again and again, abductees die under torture. Some of the abductees are also taken to Turkey and imprisoned there.

Historical sites continue to be looted

In addition, according to the human rights organization, attacks on cultural and historical legacies also continued. For example, the sites of Nabi Huri and Qibar continued to be looted. In addition, 3,000 olive trees were cut down and the wood sold. The mausoleum of Nabi Huri ("Prophet Huri"), revered as a wish-fulfilling Sufi by both Muslims and Christians, is located outside the city walls of the Hellenistic site of Cyrrhus, which lies in present-day Shera near Afrin in the area of Çiyayê Kurmênc (Jabal al-Akrad, Eng. Mountain of the Kurds). The city was founded by Antigonos I Monophthalmos around 300 BC by the Seleucids and has been the target of constant destruction and looting by the occupying forces since the invasion.

3,000 olive trees cut down

Roşîn Hido from the Afrin Human Rights Organization said: "Olive oil and olive products, which are the livelihood of the people in the region, are taken to Turkey. From there, they are sent to Europe as if they were Turkish goods." French magazine Le Point published a research report on the issue in January 2019, stating that 20,000 tons of olive oil from Afrin worth 60 million euros had been sold in Turkey.

Hido appealed to human rights organizations and the international community to do something about the crimes against people and the environment in Afrin.