afrinpost-exclusive
Our correspondent reported that the “Suqour Al-Shamal Brigade” militia has prevented residents of Ali Jaro village and surrounding areas in Bulbul sub-district from accessing their olive fields yesterday and today without providing any reasons. A voice recording surfaced from an individual affiliated with the brigade’s “economic division,” specifically targeting Kurdish residents, instructing them not to harvest their olives.
Upon investigation, the recording was identified as belonging to Majd Hakim Al-Shaish, a group leader within the brigade. In his message, Al-Shaish declared that Kurds were prohibited from entering their olive groves until Saturday. In a subsequent recording, he threatened anyone found in the groves, whether guarding or harvesting, without detailing the consequences for those who disobey.
Villagers believe the ban is linked to the militia’s intent to steal the olive harvest or prepare for further exploitation, as no other valid reasons for the restriction have been provided.
In a conversation with afrinpost, Shekhmous, a displaced villager now residing in the Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood of Aleppo, confirmed ongoing thefts in their olive fields. He also mentioned that a levy of $3 per olive tree has been imposed. Although he could not confirm the details of the recordings, Shekhmous shared that arbitrary decisions, including home seizures, are frequently imposed on the villagers.
Afrin has witnessed a surge in property seizures, with militias like Hamzat and Al-Amshat enforcing decisions to nullify legal representation and seize properties. While this policy has not yet reached Ali Jaro, Shekhmous’s brother, who still lives in the village, manages their family’s property but without any financial returns due to rising production costs and imposed taxes. His only concern now is to keep the olive trees alive until his return, even if he has to finance the upkeep from his current earnings.
Several instances of daylight olive theft have been documented. A recent video shared by a Kurdish woman showed that 100 of her olive trees had been stripped of their fruit, though the identity of the culprits remains unknown. Militia checkpoints, pervasive in the region, are suspected of either direct involvement in these thefts or facilitating them by family members of militia fighters.
Simultaneously, the Sultan Murad militia has demanded property ownership documents from Syrian government offices from residents in Khalilaka, Quta, and Kareh villages. They are also seizing the shares of absent or forcibly displaced landowners by partitioning the inheritance among those present. This tactic mirrors that of the Hamzat and Al-Amshat militias, which have annulled legal representatives and seized properties of displaced individuals. afrinpost has previously documented numerous cases of such expropriations.
According to earlier reports, olive trees in several districts, including Shieh, Sharan, and Rajo, have been partially cut down or harvested prematurely. This has forced some Afrin residents to harvest early, despite lower quality and yield of the olives.
