Afrinpost
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that violations of Islamic militias affiliated with the Turkish occupation and the Muslim Brotherhood in the occupied Kurdish region of Afrin are still continuing, where these militias intimidate the indigenous Kurds, stealing and looting their property and imposing undue taxes and fees on citizens, without distinction between rich and poor.
The Syrian Observatory received the testimony of one of the sons of the Shiye / Sheikh Al-Hadid area, where he confirmed that the militia of the Sultan Suleiman Shah, led by Mohammad Al-Jassim / Abu Ashama, was pressuring his family and demanding them to pay 500 euros.
According to information obtained by the Observatory, the family was displaced in Al-Shahba area and didn’t return to Shiye / Sheikh Al-Hadid only the witness cousin. The militia pressured the witness cousin and asked him to pay the money on the pretext that they no longer reside in the area. And that they have a son who lives in Europe.
The witness said: “All we have in the area is a small house inhabited by the group Abu Ashama, in addition to 50 olive trees we do not know anything about it.” The source asserted that this money demanded by the militia is imposed on all villagers and towns belonging to the “Shiye / Sheikh Alhadid” residing in their homes and displaced from their homes, especially those who have children residing in Europe.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, according to reliable information on July 8, monitored the statistics of Islamic militias of the Turkish occupation and the Muslim Brotherhood, the property of Kurdish citizens in Afrin, in order to impose taxes on them according to those statistics, where informed sources told the “Syrian Observatory” , the militias intend to impose a tax of 50 TL on each dunum of agricultural land.
According to informed sources, the militants of the militia of “Sultan Suleiman Shah,” gathered the citizens in front of the headquarters of the militia, a house for a displaced Kurds, in the village “Khalil Ushagh” of the district “Shiye / Sheikh Alhadid”, demanding to pay varying amounts of money on the pretext that they have relatives in the YPG.
Eyewitnesses told the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that a militia leader had taken up arms against a number of citizens and threatened to kill them if they contacted relatives outside the area via social media.
According to credible information, the militia leader, nicknamed “Abu Eshma,” issued a circular prohibiting citizens from visiting their neighbors and relatives within the areas under his armed occupation in Afrin and its countryside.
Observatory sources pointed out that the circulation of “Abu Eshma” falls within the framework of systematic policies to push the remaining citizens out of Afrin, while the militia cut off electricity to the homes of Kurdish civilians in the villages of Khalil, Alkana, Haj Bilal, Habbo, and other villages “Shiye \ Sheikh Hadid for no reason, the homes taken over by the new settlers were still supported by electricity.
