SNA arrests 2 men in Syria’s Afrin following deportation from Turkey
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Faylaq al-Sham, an armed faction affiliated with the Turkish-backed opposition, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), arrested on Tuesday two men in the countryside of Afrin, northwest Syria, after they were deported from Turkey.
A local source told North Press that an armed group affiliated with the aforementioned faction arrested on Tuesday afternoon two men from the original inhabitants aged 25 and 23, from the village of Za’reh in the town of Bulbul in the countryside of Afrin.
The two men had been legally residing in Turkey for more than 10 years. Days earlier, Turkish authorities deported them, and the faction arrested them as soon as they arrived home, the source noted.
Early in August, the Military Police of the SNA arrested 15 people two weeks after they were deported from Turkey.
The SNA factions continue to arrest people in Afrin under false charges to push them to leave the region and to demand ransom from their relatives for their release.
Since the beginning of July, Turkey has launched a deportation campaign against the Syrian refugees residing in its territory, especially in Istanbul.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously told reporters that the number of the Syrian refugees who have “voluntarily returned” has exceeded one million and will increase in the future.
Afrin has been under the occupation of Turkey and the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), since 2018 following a military operation dubbed “Olive Branch” against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of preserving “Turkey’s 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.