SNA steals unripe olive harvest in Syria’s Afrin
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Militants of the Hamza Division, affiliated with the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), stole on Monday the unripe olive harvest in villages in the countryside of Afrin, northwestern Syria.
The Human Rights Organization – Afrin, which is active in the northern countryside of Aleppo, said on its official Facebook account that militants of the Hamza Division stole olive crops in the village of Maydanki in the town of Sharran and the villages of Darkara, Kokaniya in the town of Mabata and Juwayq before the time of harvest.
The organization added that after the settlers stole the harvest of sumac, walnuts, almonds and grapes, they also stole the harvest of pomegranate and olive.
They noted that the faction stole the olive groves of the original inhabitants in Maydanki that belong to Muhammad Nuri Othman, Muhammad Sheikh Issa, Sheikho Sheikh Ali and Ibrahim Sheikh Othman.
The olive groves in the town of Mabata that belong to Abidin Dink and Salam Himedi Omar were also stolen according to the organization.
The organization said that Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (al-Amshat) met in early September with the locals in the town of Sheikh Hadid to inform them they imposed the amount of $9 per olive tree they harvest.
Afrin has been under the occupation of Turkey and the SNA factions 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.
By Malin Muhammad