afrinpost-Exclusive
Ankara-backed militias, operating as criminal gangs, persist in engaging in extortion and violence against Kurdish citizens in occupied Afrin. The Turkish authorities have failed to curtail the repeated violations and assaults on the residents of the occupied Afrin region.
On January 12, the “Suleiman Shah/Al-Amshat” militia kidnapped two citizens from the village of Kurzeleh in the Sherawa sub-district, torturing them for not paying a $5,000 levy for agricultural lands belonging to forcibly displaced residents from Afrin.
Our correspondent in the village said that the militia leader in “Al-Amshat,” known as “Abu Rahmon,” abducted the village elder, citizen “Abdo Najjar,” and citizen “Ibrahim Abdo” (48 years old). They were taken to the militia’s headquarters in the village, where they were tied up and beaten. After hours, the elder was released, while “Ibrahim” remains detained until he pays the $5,000.
“As a consequence of the elder’s beating, he sought medical attention in the occupied city of Afrin,” the correspondent added.
It is noteworthy that the levy imposed by the “Al-Amshat” militia on the village of Kurzeleh was paid by residents holding power of attorneys for the lands of forcibly displaced citizens earlier. The militia targeted this area after the economic bureau affiliated with the “Ahrar al-Sham” militia in the industrial zone of the occupied city of Afrin imposed additional levies, claiming to lease the lands of absentees to the villagers.
Despite legal power of attorneys issued by Turkish local councils allowing indigenous people to manage the properties of forcibly displaced relatives, subject to defined tax percentages, Islamic militias disregard them, void them, and deliberately impose levies on the inhabitants.
Since December 2023, the “Al-Amshat” militia has been threatening Kurdish citizens unable to pay substantial levies imposed on the olive season. These levies apply to the properties of absentees and those forcibly displaced outside the occupied Afrin region. The militia employs violence during raids on Kurdish villages.
In a nighttime raid on the village of Hekeche, the militia violently assaulted citizens unable to pay the levy, accusing them of “delaying payment.” They arrested all members of the “Mohhu” family, sending them to prison after failing to pay the initially demanded $13,000, which was later increased to $18,000 a week later.
