“Armed men loyal to Turkey robbed homes in Afrin during the second earthquake( the evening of February 20), while others tried to snatch women’s purses on the streets.”
According to our reporter in Afrin, an armed man stole the contents of two homes in a building near Bilal Mosque in the occupied city of Afrin, after their owners left temporarily out of fear that the roofs would collapse on their heads following the second earthquake. The armed man was seen later taking the furniture to the city of Darat Azza. The reporter indicated that he belongs to the group led by “Abu Al-Khair,” which was affiliated with the “Jaish al-Islam” militia before defecting and joining the “Hamzat” militia after the “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” organization took control of Afrin in October 2022.
In the same context, militants riding motorcycles snatched women’s purses while people were on the streets of Afrin following the earthquake, expecting the bags to contain people’s savings in gold and money. Robbery gangs also formed, stealing anything they could get their hands on from homes that were vacant.
As well as, the body of a woman from the Na’ous family, who died in the Old Afrin neighborhood after the earthquake, was stolen by a militant who took the body to Qubtan al-Jabal and buried it after removing its gold jewelry, despite having no connection to the victim.
