Under pretext of “COVID-19 outbreaks” | “Abu Amsha” imposes curfew near olive orchards in Afrin countryside to loot the harvest

Aleppo province: SOHR activists have reported that checkpoints of Sultan Suleiman Shah Division “al-Amshat” have prevented civilians from going to their farmlands, after imposing a curfew in Arnada village in al-Sheikh Hadid district in Afrin countryside under pretext of “preventing the spread of COVID-19”.

 

According to SOHR sources, a resident from Aranada village attempted to reach his olive orchard near al-Sheikh Hadid district to harvest olive from hundreds of trees he owned. However, militiamen of al-Amshat stationed at a checkpoint in the region prevented the resident from passing under pretext that “the area was under lockdown and curfew due to “the outbreak of COVID-19”.

 

Meanwhile, local sources have reported that al-Amshat Division’s members prevented the olive tree’s owners from reaching their farms, because the Turkish-backed faction’s members were stealing the olive harvest to sell it.

 

On the other hand, Abu Amsha faction entrusted the mayors of villages under its control in order to collect levies up to 25 percent of the olive harvest of this season from each farmer.

 

Moreover, the faction imposed huge levies on land “Wakils” (individuals authorized by the real owners to dispose of their properties, and they are usually very close relatives to the owners) according to the size of the farmlands and the amount of olive harvest, as some of these levies have reached 1,000 USD for each authorization.