Arabic to English Translation*
Several videos have been circulated on social media in recent days, revealing the extent of looting and destruction inflicted upon the homes of forcibly displaced Kurds. These acts are being carried out by armed groups and settlers who have occupied these properties since 2018, without oversight or accountability. The footage shows looted items—including dismantled doors and windows—being transported in trucks in full view of military and security checkpoints. Moreover, many displaced individuals are being extorted with financial levies in exchange for reclaiming their homes and properties under various pretexts, all amidst the ongoing presence of militias and the protective cover of Turkish intelligence services.
The following are facts about the current situation:
= In the village of “Kafr Zeeteh“:
located southwest of Afrin city, residents are forced to guard their properties day and night due to rampant thefts carried out by armed and civilian settlers, most of whom belong to the Al-Muwali tribe. Confrontations with thieves have even occurred.
– On the night of April 4, 2025, armed individuals attempted to steal a car battery and sheep from the home of “Imad Barakat son of Ahmad /45/ years old. ” When he tried to stop them, they assaulted him, striking his head with the butt of a Kalashnikov rifle before fleeing. He lost consciousness and sustained a head injury, requiring hospitalization in Afrin for treatment.
– On April 10, 2025, after the son of “Mustafa Darwsh son of Darwish /50/ years old” attempted to prevent members of a settler family from harvesting peas from a field he owns near the village, the men from the family tried to assault the young man. He managed to escape, but they opened random gunfire at “Darwish’s” house, striking a tractor parked in the yard with multiple bullets.
= In the town of “Meydan Akbas“:
which is part of Rajo subdistrict, on April 4, 2025, an armed group affiliated with “Salil Al-Khalidi, ” one of the leaders of the “Sham Legion” (Faylaq al-Sham) militia, intercepted “Waheed Rashid Ismail /35/ years old”—a local resident—at the town entrance as he was arriving on his motorcycle. They forced him at gunpoint to a nearby area along the Black River (Al-Nahr Al-Aswad), abducted him, and severely beat him. The assault was reportedly based on a fabricated accusation of stealing: 3,000 bullets, two Kalashnikov rifles, ten 16-kg canisters of olive oil, a television, and a grinding machine, from a house already seized by the same group.
In a widely circulated video statement, “Waheed” explained that the group separated him from his young son—who had accompanied him to the town—disabled his motorcycle, kidnapped him, and after the beating, returned him to the same location and left him there.
= In the village of “Korzeileh“:
on April 6, 2025, the two brothers “Akid and Ali Mohammad Hamo/from the Alguleh family“ and residents of the village, objected to a man known as “Abu Faisal” driving his vehicle through their grain field near the neighboring village of “Ayn Dara, ” causing damage to their crops. In response, Abu Faisal and his companions assaulted the two brothers with sticks. Both were taken to a hospital in Afrin city for treatment, with Ali sustaining head injuries. Following a formal complaint to the General Security, the assailants were arrested.
= Tomb of “Martyr Kamal Hanan”:
On the evening of April 10, 2025, armed individuals stole the metal fence surrounding the tomb of Martyr Kamal Hanan located in the village cemetery of “Telfeh, ” southwest of Afrin city. The tomb had already been deliberately vandalized following the incursion of the “Hamzat Division” militia into the village in March 2018, when the marble plaque bearing an expressive Kurdish inscription was shattered. Kamal Hanan was a prominent figure in the Democratic Unity Party (Yekîtî) in Syria, Editor-in-Chief of the Kurdish-language newspaper “Newroz”, and a founding member of the Kurdish Language Education and Protection Foundation in Syria. He was martyred on January 31, 2013, by sniper fire near his home in the Ashrafieh neighborhood of Aleppo, and is considered a symbolic figure of the Afrin region.
Previously, the tomb of the late lawyer Shawkat Naasan—one of the founders of the first Kurdish political party in Syria in 1957—located in the same cemetery, was also deliberately desecrated, along with several other graves, reportedly at the hands of members of the Turkey-aligned “Hamzat Division”.
= Arbitrary Arrests:
Turkish intelligence, through the militia known as the “Civil Police”, continues to scrutinize the identities of Kurdish civilians, especially those who have recently returned to their villages. Many are subjected to interrogations, arbitrary arrests, torture, and extortion of their families, particularly in the Rajo and Mobato subdistricts. For example, on April 6, 2025, “Jihad Rifaat Hassan /27/ years old, ” from the village of Kumrasheh, was arrested in Rajo town. He had returned to his village on the first day of Eid al-Fitr (March 31, 2025), but was detained on a fabricated charge of having previously performed mandatory military service under the former Autonomous Administration. He was released after three days upon paying a ransom.
Similarly, “Habash Mustafa Hino /26/ years old, ” from the town of “Badino” – Rajo, who had been living alone in the Mahmoudiya neighborhood of Afrin city, was abducted/arrested on March 26, 2025, by an unidentified party. He was released on Eid al-Fitr (March 31, 2025). Upon release, it was found that he had suffered a broken leg, body injuries, and cognitive impairment, all caused by severe torture. Habash had been forcibly deported from Turkey, where his family resides, over a year ago.
= Thefts:
In recent months, incidents of theft perpetrated by remaining militia members and their leaders have increased noticeably. We mention some of them:
– On March 23, 2025, armed men stole a Hyundai pickup truck belonging to “Yahya Sheikh Keilo” in the village of “Seimolko”– Maabatli/Mobato.
– On the night of April 1, 2025, armed thieves stole seven sheep from the home of “Abdulrahman Muhammad Ali /35/ years old, ” a father of four and a person with disabilities, in the village of “Goliya Tahtani” – Rajo. The sheep were his family’s primary source of livelihood. The perpetrators attempted to rob another house but failed.
– On the night of Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Maydanki town, gunmen raided the home of the elderly man “Saadallah Ibrahim Abdulrahman, ” using a sedative spray on him and his wife while they slept. They stole cash, three mobile phones, a tin of olive oil, and other household items, while also ransacking the house.
– On April 10, 2025, a gunman stole a motorcycle belonging to “Siwar Akhras “from the village of “Marateh, ” while he was shopping at a store in Afrin city.
In order to end the suffering of Afrin’s population and ensure a dignified return of the displaced, it is essential to really end the Turkish occupation, expel all members and leaders of the so-called “Syrian National Army” militias, and close their bases and headquarters. In addition, all resettled individuals should be returned to their original areas.
12.04.2025
Media Office-Afrin
Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (Yekiti)
——————
Images:
– The Attack on the home of “Mustafa Darwish” in the village of “Kafr zeeteh” by gunfire.
– The Victim: “Wahid Rashid Ismail. ”
– Assaulted and injured: “Ali Muhammad Hamo. ”
– Tomb of martyr Kamal Hanan, before and after vandalism and theft of the iron fence.
– Tomb of the late lawyer Shawkat Naasan, after it was vandalized.
– Victim: “Habash Mustafa Hino. ”
—————-
* Under the supervision of the European Organization of the Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (Yekîtî).
—————
You can download the full file by clicking here: