Afrinpost – Special
The Afrinpost correspondent in the center of the Bulbul district in the countryside of the occupied Kurdish region of Afrin, northern Syria, reported that groups of settlers from the Al-Hadidi tribe who live in tents in (Qastal Miqdad, Qastal Khadriya, and Za’reh) villages and other villages in the district, are tending their sheep in the fields of Afrin’s original Kurdish people openly, and they ignore all calls for them to get their livestock out.
In light of the Turkish occupation and the facilities of the Islamic militias affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood organization, who call themselves the “Syrian National Army / Free Army”, and the deterioration of the security situation in Idlib, more settler families are flocking, bringing their livestock with them, where they settled on the banks of the Afrin River starting from the village Mulla Khalil, near the town of Atmeh in Idlib governorate, until the village of Ain Dara in Afrin.
These shepherds are tending their livestock in the orchards of Afrin people, especially at night hours, and the occupation authorities did not respond to citizens’ complaints, while the militias demanded the complainants to photograph the shepherds as proof, despite the fact that the grazing process is taking place with their knowledge.
In the village of “Kafr Batra / Kafr Batreh” located on Jenderes road, settler tents are spread over the lands of Kurdish citizens.
As for in the villages of Belelku, Alammadar, and Chaqmaqah, settlers freely release their herds, which number more than 7,000 sheep, between the vineyards and olives, without the indigenous people being able to deter them.
The shepherds take advantage of the deteriorating security situation, and the inability of the people to protect their property and their forced to stay in their homes at night to protect them as well, which may also be subjected to theft, in addition to the settlers stealing crops and fruits as well, so the people have no choice but to hire a night caretaker from the settlers.
In the village of Kela in Bulbul district, in early June, 3 armed settler shepherds severely beat the Kurdish citizen “Jamil Ibish” and his two children Hassan and Jagdar (15-8 years), Due to citizen “Jamil” responding to their attempt to tend their sheep in his field planted with grains.
On the twenty-second of last April, a horrific crime occurred against the elderly Kurdish “Ali Muhammad Ahmad”, nicknamed “Aliki” (74 years), in the town of Maydanki, when three settler shepherds beat him with sticks and punches, which led to his death while he was in the hospital in Afrin.
On the twenty-fourth of last May, the elderly Kurdish citizen “Nazmi Rashid Akkash / 65 years old died as a result of a heart attack after he deterred settlers in the village of Mosako in Rajo district, from tending their sheep in his garden next to his house, so he was attacked by about ten settlers, which led to him suffering a heart attack, and he died while he was being treated in Afrin.
Likewise, on the 25th of last July, an armed gang of settlers attacked Ali Mustafa Hassan (48 years), from the village of Korkan Tahtani, in the district of “Mobata / Ma’batli”, and beat and insulted him while he was tending cattle. They also expelled him after they robbed four of the livestock on the site is known as the “Sere Shiketeh”.
