afrinpost-Exclusive
The Syrian regime has been carrying out oppressive policies targeting Kurdish citizens, including fuel restrictions, exorbitant tolls, meticulous searches, and humiliation at checkpoints in the entrances and exits of the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo.
At the Sheikh Maqsoud eastern checkpoint, barrier personnel subjected citizens to humiliation by forcing them out of vehicles for thorough searches, specifically inspecting women’s bags in pursuit of sums exceeding 150,000 Syrian pounds. This led to long queues of cars, disregarding urgent medical cases.
The regime established a new State Security checkpoint meters away from the joint checkpoint between the Fourth Division and Military Security, aiming to impose additional tolls on residents.
At the Jazeera checkpoint, west entrance of Sheikh Maqsoud, personnel tightened controls on drivers to extract passage tolls, forcing them to endure prolonged stops if they didn’t pay fees ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 Syrian pounds based on the vehicle’s load and type.
A displaced resident, “Rezan M,” recounted harassment by regime checkpoints on the route between Aleppo and the Shahba region. He was compelled to pay various tolls, including 4,000 to State Security, 3,000 to the Air Force checkpoint, 4,000 to the Fourth Division checkpoint, 5,000 to the State Security checkpoint at the Jandoul roundabout, and 2,000 to the Fourth Division near the Jandoul-Castillo road.
During his journey from Sheikh Maqsoud to regime-controlled areas in Aleppo, Rezan faced meticulous inspections at the barriers, including a 2,000 Syrian pounds bribe. Upon finishing the first checkpoint inspection, he was detained again by a newly established State Security checkpoint, demanding an additional 2,000 Syrian pounds.
Also, at the Ashrafieh checkpoint, personnel confiscated and pilfered cosmetics and perfumes from women’s bags during inspections.
Not only that, the regime checkpoints prohibit the entry of diesel fuel into the mentioned neighborhoods, resulting in the cessation of most generators supplying electricity, with only a few operating for two hours daily until their diesel reserves are depleted.
It’s worth noting that on December 9, the People’s Municipality for the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo issued a memorandum regarding electricity supply hours and cuts amid the stifling blockade imposed by regime forces and the Fourth Division for nearly 25 days on these neighborhoods and the Shahba region in northern Aleppo countryside.
