afrinpost-Exclusive
In the village of Gulya/Kolian Thtani, Turkish forces have intensified a series of arrests, with the latest occurring on January 29. Two more citizens were detained, bringing the total to ten individuals, including four women.
According to our correspondent, authorities arrested citizens Mohammad Nasan Suleiman (57) and Abdul Rahman Mohammad Hammoush (51) from Gulyan village, accusing them of associating with the previous Autonomous Administration in Afrin.
This recent wave of arrests follows closely on the heels of other detentions. On January 24, the elderly Khalil Ibrahim Bilal (66), the mosque imam, was apprehended. On January 23, Mohammed Mahmoud Suleiman (53) and Mustafa Mohammed Bakr (33) were arrested. Earlier, on January 14, Rehana Mohammed Ali Yousef (50), Ali Mahmoud Suleiman (35), and Fatima Mohammed Ali Suleiman (51) were taken into custody. The arrests also included two sisters, Zainab Suleiman (21) and Haneefa Suleiman (20), who were detained on December 29, 2023. Notably, four of the detainees are women.
Additionally, the “Hamza Brigade” militia exploited the situation in Gulya village to extort a financial fee of $300 from the locals. They claimed it was for protection from further arrests, suggesting they possessed a list of wanted individuals and could remove a name for a fee.
Similar extortion tactics were reportedly employed by the “Al-Hamzat” militia in the village of Barbande, in the Rajo district in occupied Afrin.
