Arabic to English Translation*
During his visit to Afrin on 13, February, 2024, Abdul Hadi al-Bahra, the head of the Syrian opposition coalition – the Brotherhood, indicated, during a meeting in a tent in the village of “Jouqeh/Juwaiq”, the existence of “civilian institutions, military judiciary, military police, and civilian police”, forgetting that Turkish intelligence manages these institutions and deals with the Kurds, the original inhabitants of the region, on political and racial grounds, subjecting them to hostile practices, demographic changes, violations, and crimes by various factions of the so-called “Syrian National Army” that divide the region into military sectors, ruling it with armed dominance, beyond the law and outside the framework of accountability.
Al-Bahra also referred to a “committee for grievances redress” and the formation of a “special committee for those who wish to return to Afrin” and the establishment of a “mechanism to ensure the return of any person,” without these statements being officially endorsed by the “coalition” media. Meanwhile, Abdullah Gado, a member of the political body representing the Kurdish National Council – ENKS, announced through a video clip posted on the coalition’s Facebook page on 16, February, 2024, the approval of “activating a committee to investigate violations and enable the displaced to return to their homes,” after six years of tragedies. This is similar to the “Joint Rights Committee in Afrin,” formed on 8, November, 2022, and the »Humanitarian Mechanism« document signed between “ENKS” and the “coalition” in Istanbul on 15, January, 2020, which stipulated “opening safe crossings for the return of displaced persons from the cities and towns of Ras al-Ain in Hasakah, Tell Abyad in Raqqa, and Afrin in Aleppo,” all of which failed.
Al-Bahra promised to solve the drinking water problem in the village of “Jouqeh/Juwaiq”, but he did not inquire about the status of the public electricity network, which had all its cables and equipment stolen by the militias of the “Hamzat Division” after seizing the village in 2018, or about the cutting and uprooting of hundreds of olive trees belonging to its residents and how to compensate them and hold the perpetrators accountable!
The following are facts about the prevailing conditions:
= Elderly Man Killed by Runover:
On Friday afternoon 9, February, 2024, the elderly man “Mohammed Ibrahim Soren /75/ known as “Sewrik” from the village of “Vêrganê/Verganeh” – Sharra/Sharan near the city of Azaz, was run over by a heavy vehicle for leveling dirt roads (a grader) driven by a driver from the town of Tell Rifaat/Azaz – which deviated from the main road to enter an olive field owned by the deceased, while he was resting near a tree about 10 meters away from the road, while his sons were trimming grapevines in the field. He died from severe injuries and was transferred to a hospital in Azaz, where his body was handed over to his relatives and buried in the village cemetery later that evening.
A combination of factors (clear visibility, ease of location, absence of an emergency situation, the distance of the deceased from the road, a slow-moving heavy vehicle that could have been stopped or moved slightly aside with brakes or by lowering the blade to the ground…) suggests that the targeting of the deceased was deliberate, especially since he had been subjected to pressures and threats in previous years to sell that field at a cheap price to a group from Azaz (as the field had been mortgaged to them for years, which the deceased terminated by paying off his debts), as he was once kidnapped and the group attempted to forge his signature on the sale contracts, according to a source informed by the deceased about this information a week before his death.
It is worth mentioning that the relatives of the deceased do not dare to accuse anyone of the murder, or speak transparently about its circumstances to the media, out of fear of further crimes, as the militias of the “Sham Front” control the village, with an extension to the Azaz area.
= Bombardment of “Bineh/Abeen” Village and the Martyrdom of a Civilian and a Soldier:
On the night of 12-13, February, 2024, the Turkish army and the Syrian militias allied with it bombarded the “Bineh/Abeen” village –Leloon mountain, which is under the control of the Syrian army, with about ten shells, causing damage to homes and cars, including the home of citizen “Ahmed Mustafa Al-Ghubari”, and citizen “Jwan Azat Aswad – born in 1988” and a member of the Syrian army were martyred, and citizen “Adnan Issa Kto /36/ years old” was injured, while his father “Issa” was injured in a previous bombardment. It is worth mentioning that “Aswad” was the breadwinner for his family and the families of his two brothers who have been missing for years in the midst of the civil war.
= Arbitrary Arrests:
The occupation authorities arrested:
– Citizen “Mohammed Mustafa Chro /30/ years old” from the town of “Badino” for over a month, by the Turkish intelligence and militias of the “Military Police in Rajo”, on charges of affiliation with the former Autonomous Administration, and he is still arbitrarily detained in Marata/Moroteh Central Prison in Afrin. This was after his return from Lebanon, where he was displaced to Aleppo and Afrin to join his family in the town.
– On 30, January, 2024, citizen “Kawa Naso son of Abdul Rahman/Apo family /29/ years old” from the village of “Kafrdaleh Fawqani” – Jenderes and residing in Afrin city, was arrested by militias of the “Military Police in Azaz/Anti-Terrorism” upon his arrival with his wife and two children to Azaz for a visit, on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization. He remained hidden forcibly until his release on 12, February, 2024, as he was subjected to severe torture. It is worth noting that he was previously arrested in August 2019 by the “Afrin Police” as well.
– On 9, February, 2024, citizen “Rula Hamdo /40/ years old” from the town of Rajo and working for the Bahar organization, was arrested by militias of the “Military Police in Azaz/Anti-Terrorism” upon her arrival in Azaz for a visit, on charges of affiliation with the former Autonomous Administration, and she was released on 12, February, 2024.
– On 11, February, 2024, citizen “Sabri Mohammed Hamoush /55/ years old” from the village of “Kulayan/Golyo Thtani” and “Abdo Azat Rashid /40/ years old” from the village of “Kulayan/Golyo Fawqani,” were arrested by the Turkish intelligence and militias of the “Military Police in Rajo” on charges of affiliation with the former Autonomous Administration, and they are still arbitrarily detained, as a part of a campaign of arrests targeting the residents of both villages, including men and women.
= Chaos and outlaw:
– On the evening of Wednesday, 14 February, 2024, an armed and masked group besieged the forcibly displaced home of “Mohammed Hassan Osman/Hamou Mukhtar” in the village of “Korzeleh” – Shirewa, which was seized by “Mustafa al-Rahmoon/Abu Rahmoon,” one of the leaders of the “Sultan Suleiman Shah Division – Al-Amshat” militias, as They attacked him and left him dead. It is noteworthy that “Al-Amshat” took control of the village after expelling the “Sham Front” militias from Afrin in October 2022, and that Mohammed al-Jasim, the leader of “Al-Amshat,” had removed the deceased from his position as village leader a month before his death, and he had received threats before his killing, so he moved his family elsewhere.
– Following a motorcycle explosion on the evening of 6 February, 2024, near the Nourouz roundabout in the center of Afrin city, militias of the “Military Police” carried out arbitrary arrests among the residents in the vicinity of the explosion site, including citizen “Jamil Hanu Abdo /48/ years old” from the village of “Arab Sheikhoo – Gamrouk” – Ma’batli/Mobato (most of the inhabitants of “Arab Sheikhoo” are approximately /40/ families from the Arab component/Al-Amirat tribe), which was raided by about fifty armed vehicles at night, the village was surrounded, all houses were searched, and most of the men and young men were arrested and brutally beaten and The police also arrested citizens from the Al-Amirat tribe in the city, especially since the “Military Police Administration” on its Facebook page on 8 February, 2024 announced the capture of “the leader of the terrorist network responsible for most of the recent bombings in Afrin city,” while local media channels published a video on 8 February, 2024 in which a minor confessed to placing the motorcycle near the roundabout and mentioned the name of the person who gave it to him and we were unable to enumerate the number of detainees and those who were subsequently released.
= Other Violations:
Recently, in the town of “Badino,” the so-called “Sheikh Hussein,” the brother of Abdul Karim Qassoum/Abu Jamal, the leader of the “112 Brigade” militias, demolished a section of the wall of the old mill building seized by him and belonging to the deceased Shakri Khalil Mustafa, and opened a large door in it to expand his activities there (currently a center for selling firewood), despite the danger of cracks occurring in it or its collapse, as it is old and has a large house on its roof, which was also seized, and “Sheikh Hussein” had previously opened a fuel sales center in the side courtyard of the building, in addition to another fuel center he opened within the house of the deceased Khalil Bari and in front of a part of the mosque building in the town center. As for the so-called Osama Rahhal/Abu Hassan Obama, the deputy of “Qassoum,” he completely closed the western lane of the main road leading to the town since 2020, despite its congestion with vehicles, especially during the olive season, as it passes in front of the house he seized in 2018, where his family resides, which belongs to the forcibly displaced family of the deceased Mustafa Neshat Mustafa.
Numerous visits by coalition presidents from Mustafa, Hariri, Maslat, and al-Bahra to Afrin without helping in stopping the ongoing violations and crimes, except for launching promises and attempts to beautify the reality of the Turkish occupation and cover up the dire situation on the so-called “The Syrian National Army” and the chaos in the so-called “liberated areas.”
17.02.2024
Media Office-Afrin
Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (Yekiti)
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Photos:
– The visit of Abdul Hadi al-Bahra, head of the Syrian-Brotherhood opposition coalition, to the village of “Jouqeh/Juwaiq”, the statement of Abdullah Kdo, a member of his political body, the theft of cables and equipment of the public electricity network in Juwaiq, and the cutting of olive trees in the plains of Juwaiq.
– The elderly murdered “Mohammed Ibrahim Soran”.
– The model of the heavy vehicle (Grader) that ran over the elderly “Mohamed Ibrahim Soran”.
– The martyr “Jwan Ezzat Aswad”.
– Bombing of the house of Ahmed Mustafa Al-Ghubari, village of “Bineh/Abeen” – Leloon mountain, 13/2/2024.—————-
* Under the supervision of the European Organization of the Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (Yekîtî).
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