Turkish-backed factions continue to steal Afrin’s antiquities through indiscriminate and subversive excavations

Reliable sources told the Syrian Observatory that elements of the Turkish-backed faction Al “Hamzat”  continue the search for antiquities in Joqah located in the countryside of Afrin area northwest of Aleppo, where since the beginning of last December, the faction has been digging several sites in the area , including the shrine of “Sheikh Jamal al-Din” located between Joqah and Kokan villages, the sources added that the faction moved several bags whose contents were not known until the moment to the city of Afrin, as part of the continued distortion of the Syrian civilization by the factions through stilling and distorting the archaeological sites, The Syrian Observatory published yesterday, that elements of the Turkish-backed factions continue their violations against the people of Afrin north of Aleppo, by restricting farmers to pay financial bribes, and in the context of that, sources informed the “Syrian Observatory” that the Turkish-backed “Sukur Al-Shamal Brigade” restrict the people of Khoroz village in Bulbul district of Afrin countryside, for refusing to pay bribes and a share of the olive crop. On December 12, The Syrian Observatory reported that, the Ankara-backed factions continue their abuses of kidnapping, arrest, theft, looting and of the remaining residents of Afrin in their areas northwest of Aleppo city, as part of a systematic policy to push civilians out of their areas, where a group of “Al-Sham” Corps arrested a citizen In Sharan district, accused of “cutting trees” after had been arrested more than once in previous periods and released in exchange for money, while an armed group affiliated to one of the factions cut down the olive trees in Omar Samo village in Sharan district also, in addition to cutting more than 80 olive trees in Drakir village, in Maabatli area, it is noteworthy that logging is continuing frequently by Turkish-backed factions throughout the Region of Afrin, while sources of the Syrian Observatory reported that elements of the factions forced about 20 civilians of agricultural tractors in Maabatli district to till large areas in the plain of Amara village in preparation for planting grain for the benefit of the factions, the sources added that the factions did not pay civilians the wages of tillage or even the price of fuel.