Rejecting to pay levies | Al-Majd Corps and military police arrest civilians in Afrin

Aleppo province: SOHR activists have reported that a joint security patrol of the military police and al-Majd Corps launched an arrest campaign, targeting civilians in Kaila village in Bulbul district of Afrin on November 4. The security forces arrested two civilians and confiscated mobile phones of the arrested civilians’ families and took the detainees to their headquarters in Bulbul district.

 

SOHR activists have reported that this security campaign came after the detainees objected imposing levies by Al-Majd faction on the villagers of an estimated 300 olive oil bottles, based on the number of trees each farmer owned.

 

SOHR sources had reported that members of al-Sham Corps which is close to the Turkish Intelligence continues repressing the residents of in Iska village in Jendires district, as the corps resumed the security campaign it launched recently, arresting more civilians in the village on fabricated charges , including the “dealing with the former Autonomous Administration”.

 

The members of the Sham Corps arrested six civilians from Iska village yesterday, and took them to the corps’ headquarters in the village. According to SOHR sources, al-Sham Corps has appointed a security official in Iska village a few days ago, while the recent arrest campaign came as a part of the corps’ efforts to blackmail the residents and collect more ransoms. The corps also aimed to clamp down on the village’s residents to force them to leave the village to take over their properties. It is expected that kidnappings and arrests will continue in the village in the incoming days, amid growing fears by the residents.

 

Yesterday, SOHR sources reported that a patrol of al-Sham Corps which is close to the Turkish Intelligence launched a security campaign, on November 3, in Iska village in Jendires district in Afrin countryside in “Olive Branch” area. The Corps arbitrarily arrested 14 civilians, including women, from the village for “dealing with the former Autonomous Administration” and took them to the corps’ headquarters in the village.

 

Observatory activists confirmed that the factions accused the arrested people of “communicating with the former Autonomous Administration” with the aim to blackmail them and force them to pay large ransoms in return for their release. It is worth noting that al-Sham Corps beat the arrested women brutally for resisting arrest, while other young men were also beaten and assaulted.