Three more civilians kidnapped in Turkish-occupied Afrin
Crimes and violations continue unabated in the occupied city of Afrin, where the Turkish state and allied gangs established a terror regime.
The Afrin-Syria Human Rights Organisation announced that Mihemed Omar Bin Seîd (43) from Xelnêre village of Afrin was kidnapped by the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) and ‘Military Police’ gangs of the occupying Turkish state on 22 July.
Accordingly, the man had just come back from Lebanon and demanded the return of his house from the gang member from Aleppo who had seized his house,
On the other hand, Ahrar al-Sharqiya gangs kidnapped Ciwan Ebdulhenan Silêman (35) from Eyn Hecerê village of Mabeta district on 16 July and handed him over to Military Police gangs in Bilbilê district.
On 21 July, the so-called Military Police kidnapped Ciwan Hemîd Horo (42) from Ûka village of Bilbilê district and released him in exchange for 5 thousand dollars.
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 Air Force 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 but occasional skirmishes between YPG/YPJ and jihadist forces on its borders. As a result, Afrin offered peaceful sanctuary to over 300,000 internally displaced people from elsewhere in Syria.
