Afrinpost – Special
Islamic militias affiliated with the Turkish occupation and the Muslim Brotherhood continue the inviolability of religious cemeteries and shrines in the occupied Kurdish Afrin region, through excavations and bulldozing operations, that affect all ancient and historical sites, without being deterred by any human values or religious laws.
In this context, a minaret of a mosque in the center of the “Shieh / Sheikh Al-Hadid” district collapsed recently as a result of excavation work carried out by the Turkish occupation authorities with heavy machinery for about two months, with the aim of searching for burials and archaeological treasures at the mosque site.
Local residents from inside the town confirmed to the Afrinpost that the militia, “Sultan Suleiman Shah”, which is known as Al-Amshat, had imposed a security cordon around the mosque site about two months ago, while excavation work was under the supervision of a Turkish element, under the pretext of carrying out restoration work, but it was intended to search for antiquities.
The sources added that the excavation work was concentrated at the bottom of the mosque, which led to the collapse of its minaret (height 25 m) completely, noting that the history of building the mosque in the Nabaa Square in the middle of the town dates back to about 150 years.
The sources indicated that the commercial stores, located in the land of the mosque, which had been investing for the benefit of the Imam of the mosque in the previous period, were destroyed, and those sources added that similar excavation work also extends to the “Prophet Huri” mosque.
Whereas a Turkish bombing completely destroyed the Qada village in Raju, and was leveled during the aggression in the occupied Afrin region.
At the beginning of last January, Kurdish party sources indicated that the militia “Sultan Suleiman Shah – Al Amshaat” was digging inside the old mosque – Al Tahtani in the center of the “Shieh / Sheikh Al-Hadid” district, noting that the excavation site had been covered with signs to hide what is going on in it, in search of Precious finds and treasures, as it is known that the mosque’s land and houses south of it contain ancient ruins.
Since the Turkish military occupation, the Turkish occupation army and its armed men have used advanced devices to uncover antiquities and minerals. The people of the occupation have previously confirmed that the occupation army took out quantities of buried gold as in the village of Barava, in addition to the constant talk of excavation in the ancient hills of Afrin, which archaeologists confirm including Several layers, thus containing traces of different eras belonging to successive civilizations over the region.
