Ongoing violations in Afrin | Turkey-backed factions impose levies and seize civilian properties

Aleppo province: The National Army factions continue their grave violations against the residents in Afrin by forcibly imposing levies and seizing properties. After the Turkey-backed factions had stolen olive harvest in the past months, they started to fell olive trees at vast areas which has become a new source for gaining more money, as well as imposing levies and selling people properties and houses.

Reliable sources have informed SOHR that the “National Army” factions have chopped more than 150 trees in Tal Taweel and Ain Darah villages in Afrin countryside that are owned by families from Afrin who have been forcibly deported and sent them to Afrin to sell it as firewood.

In Arandah village in Sheikh Hadeed district, a commander in “Jabaha Al-Shamiyah” who is known by his initials as (Y. H.) has seized dozens of pieces of agricultural land that were owned by forcibly deported people and he also confiscated some slots of land of inhabitants in the village on pretext charges of dealing with the former Autonomous Administration by using proxy contacts for thousands of dollars US.

The sources added that (Y. H.) also looted a mill in Ma’batly district after severely beating its owner when he rejected to pay the levies.

Meanwhile a commander in Al-Hamzah Division faction who is known by his initials as (H. B.) has imposed levies by force, in Ma’ratah village in Afrin countryside, on the cars crossing into areas under the faction’s control. The value of the levies vary from 25 TL to 50 TL based on type of car and its cargo.