Searching for antiques | “National Army” factions excavate archaeological hill near Afrin

Aleppo province: Reliable sources have told SOHR that the archaeological hill of “Halobiya,” located within the archaeological Acropolis, near Afrin, has been exacvated by Turkish-backed factions by heavy machinery. This hill is unregistered at Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums

The hill, like other hills and archaeological sites, has been subjected to serious violations and systematic destruction, as acropolis hill has been excavated in search of archaeological relics and treasures.

The National Army also have opened a road at the southeastern end of the hill, to facilitate the ascent and landing of the machinery to its surface.

The area vandalized is estimated at 3500 square metres on the Acropolis hill.

On January 26, SOHR activists reported that the Turkish-backed factions bulldozed by heavy machinery the archaeological hill “Qah Waqah” in Rajo district. The hill is located six kilometers eastern to the center of Rajo center between Qoran and Hulilko villages, where the hill was planted by fruitful olive trees and was unregistered in the records of Syrian Directorate of Antiques.

Similar to other archaeological hills, this hill was subject to drilling and destruction operations by heavy machinery of the National Army factions after Turkish forces and their proxies controlled Afrin, searching for Antiques and archaeological objects.

As a result of these operations, the archaeological layers were destroyed in addition to the felling of hundreds of olive trees in the vicinity of the hill. The destroyed area was estimated to be nearly 20,000 meter square.