Violations and crimes on peak in occupied Afrin – Turkish-affiliated forces kidnapp civilians 

As the military occupation of the formerly Kurdish-majority city of Afrin continues, crimes against civilians are increasingly perpetrated by the Turkish-affiliated occupational forces.

On October 28, 2023, several news agencies reported on the abduction of 3 citizens from Afrin, including one girl, in addition to the theft of the yields of 70 olive trees.

Local sources from the Shara district, situated in Afrin, reported that a group of 15 mercenaries, belonging to the “military police” raided the house of Mohammed Darwish Rasho (47 years), who hails from the village of Hassan Deera, and kidnapped him.

However, prior to the abduction, Mohammed Rasho was brutally assaulted by the mercenaries in front of his family, also leading to his elderly Mother Fatima to get severely injured. She was subsequently transferred to a hospital where her wounds were treated with 11 stitches.

Moreover, local sources published information on the kidnapping of a Yazidi girl, named Sultana Samir Abdo (25 years old), who hails from the village of Baflyon, located in the besieged Afrin Governorate. Her fate and whereabouts still remain unknown.

The last kidnapped civilian was Asmat Omar, from the village of Ikdam, situated in the Shera district, following a quarrel between his child and the children of the settlers in the village.

In addition to the abductions eyewitnesses from the Mobata district said that members of the Turkish occupation mercenaries stole the crop of 70 olive trees, owned by the citizen Abu Haitham, a resident of the village of Semalka in the Mobata district. In addition, taxes were imposed on the citizens of multiple villages, ranging from 300 to 500 dollars.

These events constitute a series of crimes and serious violations, perpetrated against Afrin’s citizens since the inception of the military occupation in March 2018 by Turkish forces.

Even though these incidents in fact, amount to crimes of ethnic cleansing and forced demographic change, the international community continues to remain silent.