The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that members of a patrol of the Al-Sham Legion arrested two civilians from Borj Haidar in Afrin’s Sherawa district during the past few days. The arrested civilians were taken to the infamous prison of Eiska village, in order to obtain ransoms from them, SOHR said.

According to the report, members of the “Al-Shat” checkpoint of Al-Jabha Al-Shamiya faction arrested a civilian from Zarko village in Raco district on his way from Azaz to Afrin. The civilian was taken to an unknown destination.

On June 20, SOHR reported that members of a patrol of the military police arrested a young man, his mother and two brothers a few days ago in Qurzihal village in Sherawa district. The family had been attacked and beaten brutally by gunmen working for the “Al-Jabha Al-Shamiyyah” faction, during infighting between the two sides.

According to SOHR sources, the military police sided with the gunmen and arrested the four civilians without blaming any of the gunmen for attacking those civilians.

Afrin occupied since 2018

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.