Turkish forces and allied mercenaries kidnapped 4 people from the Rajo and Shera districts of Afrin, including 2 women.

According to information obtained from local sources, the so-called ‘Civilian Police’ kidnapped 45-year-old Mihemed Mihemed Fatê from the Rajo district.

In the Shera district, Hisên Mistefa Hedek from the village of Dêr Siwanê has been kidnapped by the so-called ‘Military Police’ for the second time. The 42-year-old man had his 15,000 dollars and car seized by the mercenaries.

On the other hand, Turkish intelligence service MIT kidnapped two sisters, Hêvîn Yûsif Cuma (16) and Meryem Yûsif Cuma (24), from the village of Elke in Shera district.

According to data from human rights organisations, over 800 civilians have been kidnapped since the invasion of Afrin in 2018, and more than 7500 abducted. While some of these people were released in return for ransom, the fate of many remains unknown.

The Human Rights Organization Afrin-Syria reported on June 1 that the Turkish state and its mercenaries (police, civilian police, al-Jabha al-Shamiya and al-Amshar gangs) had kidnapped at least 53 people, including 4 women, for arbitrary reasons in May. Thousands of dollars in ransom were demanded for the release of the abductees.

Afrin Canton was the westernmost canton of Rojava and North and East Syria, home to 200,000 ethnic Kurds. Though the population was overwhelmingly Kurdish, it was home to diverse religious groups including Yazidis, Alawites and Christians alongside Sunni Muslims.

On 20 January 2018, Turkey launched air strikes on 100 locations in Afrin, as the onset of an invasion they dubbed ‘Operation Olive Branch.’

The Turkish Airforce indiscriminately shelled civilians as well as YPG/YPJ positions, while a ground assault was carried out by factions and militias organised under the umbrella of the Turkish-backed National Army.

By 15 March, Turkish-backed militias had encircled Afrin city and placed it under artillery bombardment. A Turkish airstrike struck the city’s only functioning hospital, killing 16 civilians.

Civilians fled and the SDF retreated, and by 18 March Turkey was in de facto occupation of Afrin. Between 400 and 500 civilians died in the invasion, overwhelmingly as a result of Turkish bombing. Other civilians were summarily executed in the field.

Prior to the Turkish invasion, Afrin had been one of the most peaceful and secure parts of Syria, virtually never seeing combat during the civil war bar occasional skirmishes between YPG/YPJ and jihadi forces on its borders. As a result, Afrin offered peaceful sanctuary to over 300,000 internally displaced people from elsewhere in Syria.