afrinpost – Exclusive
The city of Afrin and the town of Jindires are witnessing large-scale theft and looting operations by armed groups and IDP, who were brought in by Turkey following Afrin occupation in 2018, since the devastating earthquake that struck on February 6th. Additionally, the relief office affiliated with the local council in Afrin has been implicated in looting and selling aid supplies, while attempting to cover up their violations by inciting attacks and riots on the office.
According to the details provided by our reporter,” militants from the “Jaish al-Sharqiya\ Eastern Army” militia seized a relief vehicle coming from the Bulbul area on Tuesday. The vehicle’s owners were distributing aid to the affected people of Jindires, when the militants took over the vehicle from them and headed to a camp on the outskirts of the city, where they unloaded the goods.
In the same context, militants attacked the relief office in Afrin, and it was revealed that the attack was carried out in coordination with the representative of “AVAD,” the Turkish official responsible for the relief office, named “Omar Al-Turki,” in order to cover up the thefts being carried out by him and others affiliated with the local council, including “Fuad.”
Several employees of the relief office, including “Abdullah” and “Habib,” were known to have sold over a thousand tents, each priced at 700 Turkish liras, to a store selling relief supplies on the new bridge road in the occupied city of Afrin.
In another development, IDPs from southern rural Aleppo have set up tents in the bazaar square, the diesel highway, and al-Mahmoudiya road to appear as earthquake victims in order to obtain aid, despite having homes they return to at night.
Sources from inside Afrin confirmed for “afrinpost” that an IDP from Hama, who is a member of the “Sultan Murad” militia, immediately said after the earthquake, “Let’s start our work.” He owns four vehicles that he uses every day to go to Jindires and return loaded with stolen goods, unloading them at the former sheep market square in al-Mahmoudiya neighborhood.”
