Amid silence of the Turkish Forces, Afrin city witness looting of a warehouse by a faction of the “Olive Branch” Operation Forces worth more than 60 million SYP
Aleppo Province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: Afrin city and other areas in its countryside in the northwest countryside of Aleppo province; are undergoing continues looting by factions and groups of “Olive Branch” Operation Forces which is led by the Turkish Forces, where the Observatory learned that a group of one of the factions had stolen a car depot in the old area of Afrin, which is owned by a Kurdish citizen of Afrin city, the sources confirmed that the robbery took place late at night and that they stole items and transported them to an unknown destination, while the value of the stolen stuff was estimated at over 60 million Syrian pounds, but no party was held accountable for this robbery which provoked discontent of the locals from the systematic lootings, which are taking place continuously, amid silence of the Turkish Forces.
The Syrian Observatory published on the 3rd of September 2018, that Afrin city becomes empty of any security presence, every day at midnight, in which the armed members of the factions become active, and gunfire processes take place every day, sources suggested that they are carried out as a result of thefts by groups of the factions operating in Afrin area and the city, also the sources confirmed that the members of a division operating within the Operation “Olive Branch”, looted a large warehouse in the center of Afrin city, 5 days ago, where it contained furniture of a house, electric devices and home appliances, where the warehouse was almost emptied and its contents were taken to unknown destination.
The locals confirmed in the past few days to the SOHR that that members of the factions turn to fabricate accusations against some citizens and terrify them, in order to seize their possessions or collect royalties from them, and the Syrian Observatory documented in the past few hours, that a member of Jaysh al-Sharqiyyah faction, assaulted and beat a Kurdish elderly woman, in Mahmoudia neighborhood in Afrin city, as the woman refused to leave her house, after bringing charges against her that her sons belong to the Democratic Union Party and to the Kurdish forces, then a verbal dispute began between the member and the elderly woman, which ended with assaulting and beating the elderly woman by the member who belongs to a security force in Jaysh al-Sharqiyyah faction operating under the banner of the Operation “Olive Branch” led by the Turkish forces, the Syrian Observatory also published on the 12th of August 2018, that violations continue in Afrin area in the northwestern countryside of Hama, where intersected sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that after the end of lootings by the Turkish-backed factions for the citizens property and the contents of inhabited and uninhabited houses, and confiscating and burning houses and farms, the factions operating in the Turkish forces-led “Olive Branch” operation began looting the public property, where the Syrian Observatory monitored during the past 48 hours gunmen of the Sultan Murad Division cutting off the copper electric cables, assembling, and stealing them from an area near al-Nowruz Roundabout in the middle of Afrin, where some people came out to question their identity and why they were there, but a member of the group said: “we are thieves, you better enter your home,” also another person asked them why are they cutting the copper electricity cables, another member answered in the same way: “we are fixing the electricity for you”, and the local sources confirmed that in conjunction with this robbery, a military police patrol passed through the area where the division of Sultan Murad are stealing the cables, which led a verbal altercation and very loud screams, but the Free Police were unable to stop the robbery and returned to its headquarters, after which the Turkish armored vehicles came to roam in the area, which pushed members of the group to flee but they came back to complete the stealing one the Turkish patrol left the area, the sources confirmed that this stealing lasted more than 3 hours without any force to prevent them from stealing.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published yesterday that members from factions operating in the “Olive Branch” operation arresting more citizens and taking them to their headquarters, and trafficking them through negotiation with their families for a specific ransom -which sometimes reaches 10 million Syrian pounds- in exchange for the release of their detainee, also the local sources confirmed that the factions are seeking through the raid to carry out more looting and stealing of the citizens’ property, which led to some residents resisting them by expelling them or preventing them from entering their homes in Afrin city or in the villages and towns of Afrin city, while some locals filed a complaint to the Turkish Forces but they did nothing, and left the hands of factions of “Olive Branch” operation free in Afrin, also residents complained about the prohibition of the Turkish Forces and the factions which operate under their command of the farmers to work on their lands and farms, by targeting them if they approached the land, also the schools are still close until further notice from the officials of Afrin area and the local councils working on the administration of the area, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored sporadic attacks claimed the lives of at least 5 fighters of the rebel and Islamic factions operating in “Olive Branch” operation, carried by gunfire targeting or IED detonations.