afrinpost-Exclusive
Militants affiliated with Turkish-affiliated SNA groups continue to kidnap civilians in Afrin, both locals and IDPs, with the intent of extorting them and demanding hefty ransoms from their families. This has resulted in a state of chaos and insecurity prevailing in the occupied region since Turkey’s invasion in March 2018.
Local sources confirmed the abduction of Kurdish engineer “Shekho Jamil Zada” from the village of Zetunake in the Sharan subdistrict of Afrin, carried out by unknown armed individuals. Mr. Shekho, the director of the Sharan water station, was returning home from his workplace in the town of Sharan to his village of Zetunake when he was intercepted by armed men on September 28. His fate remains unknown, although his car was found near the Sanareh village water channel.
In a separate incident on October 1, unknown armed individuals attempted to abduct an IDP, originally from Idlib, near the Al-Ashrafiyah park in the occupied city of Afrin. However, the IDP, who was armed, managed to defend himself by firing shots into the air, causing the assailants to flee the scene.
In September 2023, afrinpost recorded a distressing tally of 44 abduction and kidnapping incidents, with 7 of them affecting women, including three instances involving women accompanied by their children. This included 10 cases concerning individuals who had recently re-established their presence in Afrin. Moreover, a single abduction case unfolded within Turkish territory. Remarkably, this wave of incidents also took its toll on seven IDPs residing in the region.
