Ongoing violations | Turkish-backed factions arrest and kidnap civilians in Afrin

Aleppo province: A 48-year-old civilian was brutally beaten by militiamen belonging to “Jaysh Al-Islam” faction, after his car had hit the motorcycle of one of the militiamen, while he was on his way home in Atamanah village in Raju district in Afrin countryside. According to SOHR sources, altercation had taken place, before the militiamen beat the civilian.

 

SOHR activists also reported that the civilian, who works as an oil trader, filed a complaint at the security bureau of “Ahrar Al-Sharqiyah” faction, while the militiamen have threatened to kill him.

 

On the other hand, a 47-year-old civilian was kidnapped on April 23 by unknown gunmen on the road between Ghazzawiyah and Basoutah in Shirawa district in Afrin countryside, asking his family to pay a ransom of an estimated 15,000 USD in return for his release. The kidnapped civilian lives in Al-Mahmoudiyah neighbourhood in Afrin city and owns a shop in the city centre. The civilian’s fate remains unknown.

 

Moreover, the military police arrested a civilian in his thirties from Maydanki village in Sharra district, after having returned from Lebanon to Afrin. The man’s whereabouts and fate remain unknown.

 

Separately, “Al-Mu’tasm” Division released a 57-year-old civilian on April 28 for a ransom of 2,000 USD and singing an unpaid rent contract for a year for the favour of a member of the division. The man had been arrested on April 17, after having filed a complaint against a militiaman for seizing his house in Al-Ashrafiyah neighbourhood.

 

It is worth noting Turkish-backed factions continue their human rights violations against civilians in “Olive Branch” area in light of the absence of law and deterrence.