Afrinpost-Rebounds
Video footage broadcast by one of the media loyal to the Turkish occupation and the Islamic militias affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood Organization, showed the exercises carried out by militants in one of the archaeological sites in the countryside of Afrin, the Kurdish occupied region.
A videotape aired on September 20 showed a column of dozens of gunmen advancing on the cheering shouts of their trainers in the militia they operate under, as well as cars with medium machine guns.
Later, one of the militants’ leaders addresses them with a radical Islamic tactical rhetoric, which is often used by the Muslim Brotherhood’s militias to incite and encourage adolescents to join and work within their ranks by mentioning words such as jihad.
After that, the footage shows the gunmen firing live fire on the hill of Ain Darah archaeological, and I hear the sound of bursts of medium machine guns, in addition to the use of RPG shells in real firing on the targets, reveal the filming, but later shots show Ain Darra hell during one of the gunmen emulated his rise, highlighting that the target was hit by the shell.
As a result of the intensity of the firing, the scenes show the firing of the missiles a large amount of dust and smoke from areas around the hill, and then a masked leader of those militias called the National Liberation Front, claiming that they are preparing to confront what he called the Russian enemy.
While the gunman claims that they intend to fight Russia through their training, the facts in the east of the Euphrates have shown that these, as “hired killers” do not have their decision, and abide by the instructions issued to them by the Turkish occupation, as they had previously withdrawn from the regions in Russian coordination with the Turkish occupation, confined to fighting the SDF on the instructions of the Turkish intelligence.
The following footage shows the gunmen firing grenades directly at the site of the archaeological site and inside, and the guns of extremists directed towards the historical stone, and are being directly targeted, without any concern for its importance or status of world heritage and history.
After the Turkish invasion of Afrin, footage revealed that archaeological sites dating back to BC era in the city of Afrin and its surrounding in northern Syria were destroyed and severely damaged, photos circulated on the Internet showed the temple of Ain Darah, which dates back to the Iron Age and includes the remains of large basalt blocks carved and inscriptions on the walls, a clear bombardment with aircraft and shells.
The Syrian Observatory has monitored the bombing of warplanes since the Turkish invasion called “Olive Branch” on 20 January last year, on three archaeological sites, the archaeological area of Deir Mishmish in the southeast of Afrin, and Nabi Huri area in the northeast of Afrin. They also raided the Ain Dara archaeological area in the south of Afrin. The strikes caused material damage in the areas of Nabi Huri and Deir Mishmish, while causing great destruction at the Ain Dara archaeological site.
The process of targeting the archaeological sites by the warplanes of the Turkish occupation, the indignation of the people who accused the Turkish forces of trying to erase the monuments and history of the region, and that they deliberately targeted these monuments, which indicate the presence of civilizations in the region of Afrin, and erase the traces of the Kurdish people from Afrin.
After a year of occupation, in March 2019, Afrinpost counted the number of archaeological sites destroyed or exhumed and there were at least 9 archaeological sites: (Ain Darah – Tiklaki – Brad – Nabi Hori – two archaeological hills in the village of Kamrok – Zarafki hill archaeological site – Albeiski / Church / – Caves of Arrava), but that census was not complete in light of the occupation prevented the Kurdish citizens from moving between the areas of Afrin.
Last July, the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums of the Syrian regime appealed to “international organizations, legal persons and international academics interested in culture and anyone interested in human civilization” to intervene to protect Syrian cultural heritage and put an end to the “unjust aggression of Turkish forces” on the archaeological sites in Afrin.
Dr. Mahmoud Hammoud, Director of Antiquities in Syria, told RT, “Dozens of sites in Afrin were taken over by the Turks and all those terrorists under their banner,” pointing out that the Directorate received documents and pictures showing the use of “bulldozers” in the search for antiquities, which confirms “acts of vandalism and attacks on archaeological sites have never stopped, and they have included all sites, although the direct appeal launched by the directorate mentioned only four areas, from which documents and photographs are received.”
Hammoud spoke of Afrin in particular, describing it as “a very rich area of archaeological sites, and that the archaeological hills that are exposed to digging and theft, are archaeological cities on top of each, the height of the hill up to 25 meters and consists of layers dating back to each period or civilization.”
Al-Hamoud said at the time: “They smash all of them with bulldozers.” Unfortunately, the Syrian civilization is all shattered on their stupid and treacherous hands. “
New photos had arrived at the time to the media and the Directorate showed that “four bulldozers excavated in one location is the site of Burj Abdalo,” says Hammoud, and indicates that this means how rich the site, with its monuments.
On the site of Ain Dara, which was bombed by Turkish forces before the occupation of Afrin, which led to the destruction of basalt sculptures of rare existence, Hammoud said that “from the first moment of the occupation began to excavate it, and currently there is a bulldozer sweeping in front of the temple completely.”
