Excavating for antiques | “National Army” factions Blow hills near Syrian-Turkish borders
Aleppo province: SOHR activists have reported that members of the “National Army” have removed the remainders of Tel Mirsawa hill by heavy machinery, searching for antiques.
The hill is located western to Mirsawa village and 35 kilometres north to Afrin city, near the Syrian-Turkish borders.
It is worth noting that the hill was subjected to drilling operations with heavy machineries and bulldozers, after the Turkish factions and their proxies took control over Afrin city on 2018, where the hill was completely destroyed by ongoing drilling operations in addition to destruction of surrounding agricultural lands, sources estimated the area that was destroyed was nearly 3500 meter square.
On January 11, factions loyal to Turkey continued acts of sabotage and dredging in archaeological “Dodry” hill that is located in the Mednaky village in Sheran regions by diggers and heavy machineries in search for artefacts and relics without paying any attention to the destruction of the historical heritage of Syria for financial interests.
“Dodry” hill is located two kilometres far from west Medanky town.
The hill was named a popular heritage of the indigenous inhabitants of the region which mean in Kurdish language “a hell with two doors”. “Dodry” has not undergone to any archaeological excavation missions before the Turkish forces and their factions controlled Afrin city.
The hill experienced systematic sabotage by the National Army factions over the past three years. Acts of digging completely destroyed the hill and uprooted the perennial olive trees that covered the hill surface. The digging also reached the vicinity of the hill in the lower city. The digging covered nearly 9,000 square metres of the hillside and other areas in the lower city.
On January 10, Turkish- backed factions continue to destroy Syrian historical monuments and archaeological artifacts in Afrin by systematic destruction of the ancient hill in search of artifacts and buried treasures to smuggling them out of Syria in full view of Turkish forces.
In this context, SOHR reliable sources have reported that National Army factions have continued to destroy and bulldoze the remainder of Al-Sheikh Abdul Rahman archaeological hill, located 17 kilometres south-west of Afrin, which is also one of the archaeological hills registered with Syrian directorate-general of antiquities.
It is worth noting that no archaeological excavations were carried out in Al-Sheikh Abdul Rahman archaeological hill before Turkish forces and their proxies took control of Afrin.
Turkish proxies have bulldozed (27000 m2) of the area by heavy machinery at the foot of the hill and have cut off olive trees surrounding the archaeological hill.
On January 4, SOHR sources monitored the destruction of remains of Tal Aqrab archeological site located between Eskan and Jolmah villages in Jandris neighbourhood, some 20 km south of Afrin city.
It is worth noting that the hill is one of the registered sites by the Syrian Antiquities Directorate.
The archeological site was exposed to acts of digging and dredging by heavy diggers and earth-moving machineries in search of artifacts and to destroy the historical heritage of Syria for financial benefits.
The acts of sabotage destroyed 18,000 square meter of the hill surface and the surrounding land.
According to SOHR sources, dozens of archeological hills were exposed systematic acts of sabotage, including Tal Khala, Tal Ain Darah and Tal Aboush via digging by heavy machines that reached the complete surface of the hill Acropolis. The digging acts also reached the hill surrounding land in search for artifacts and treasures.
Since the Turkish forces and their loyal factions have controlled Afrin city, the Turkish forces and factions destroyed dozens of archeological sites, the most prominent of whom was Tal Ain Darah that was exposed to Turkish airstrikes in 2018. The Turkish forces later destroyed the site and looted its basalt lion and transferred it to unknown destination.