Turkish-backed SNA cuts down olive trees in Syria’s Afrin
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), cut down on Friday dozens of olive trees in Sharran district in Afrin, northwest Syria.
Eyewitnesses told North Press that militants of the Sultan Murad faction cut down more than 60 perennial olive trees in the village of Shiltah in the Sharran district in the northeast of Afrin.
The trees are the property of a displaced family that are residing in an IDP camp for Afrin people in the countryside of Aleppo. The Mukhtar of the village tried to stop the militants, but they kicked him out of the place.
The eyewitnesses said that the militants cut down the trees under the pretext of belonging to a family that works with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
This group is well known for four years in the region. When winter approaches, they start to cut down fruitful trees, such as olive, pomegranate, grapes, walnuts and others, to dry them in the summer and sell in the winter at higher prices, the eyewitnesses added.
Afrin has been under the occupation of the Turkish forces and their affiliated SNA since March 2018 following the so-called “Olive Branch” military operation to push away the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of protecting “Turkish national security.”
The operation caused the displacement of about 300,000 of the original inhabitants of the Kurds of Afrin who have been taking shelter in 42 villages and five camps in Aleppo northern countryside, locally known as Shahba region, since then.
After the occupation of Afrin, thousands of trees have been cut down by the SNA factions, according to press and human rights reports.