By John Ahmad
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Syrian government forces increased the rate of the tax they imposed on the entry of heating fuel to the Kurdish-majority areas in Aleppo, a source said on Friday.
The Fourth Division, an elite formation of the government forces led by Maher, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s brother, has imposed $110 on each 220-liter barrel of heating fuel to reach the residents of the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh in the city of Aleppo.
The same measure has been applied on 40 villages and 5 camps in Aleppo northern countryside, locally known as Shahba Region, where Afrin IDPs has been taking shelter since they fled their hometown following the so-called Olive Branch Turkish military operation in 2018.
The operation caused the occupation of Afrin the displacement of about 300,000 of the original Kurdish inhabitants of Afrin who have been taking shelter in Shahba Region, ever since. The Shahba Region has been militarily controlled by Russian and Syrian government forces since 2018.
In the past year, the Fourth Division seized half of the amount of the heating fuel sent by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) to the people of the abovementioned areas. Add to this, it forced the AANES to pay the checkpoints of the government forces $90 as a tax on each barrel.
Shahba Region is run by the AANES that frequently provides aid for the people there, but the government forces’ checkpoints hinder that and demand taxes and royalties.
A source from the Syrian government, preferred not to be named for security reasons, told North Press that the Fourth Division is currently demanding to double the tax. “They want, for example, 50 barrels [each holds 220 liters] to permit only 25 to reach Shahba Region, and Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods,” he said.
“Besides, the checkpoint of the State Security Branch imposes a tax of $110 on each barrel to enter the mentioned areas,” the source added. “Last year, the tax was $90.”
For about two weeks, checkpoints of the Fourth Division have prevented the entry of fuel and essential materials into the abovementioned areas which are inhabited by thousands of IDPs from Afrin. They implemented the same measures on the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh in the city of Aleppo.
Jamal Rashid, Deputy Co-chair of the AANES in Shahba Region, said, “Our areas are on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe due to the Syrian government’s suffocating siege which is preventing the entry of fuel and materials.”
Last winter, the AANES provided each family with 220 liters of heating fuel in exchange for 121,000 Syrian Pounds (SYP, about $8), while the Syrian government distributed only 50 liters in exchange for 105,000 SYP (about $7), according to the source. However, the unsubsidized price of heating fuel amounts to 11,600 SYP.
Turkish forces and Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), besiege Shahba Region from the side of Azaz and Afrin. They have surrounded these areas from three directions, leaving the residents with only one route that leads to Aleppo city – a path that is under the control of the Syrian government.
Rashid emphasized the Shahba Region (Aleppo northern countryside) has been experiencing a complete electricity blackout, leaving residents in total darkness for a week.
He warned of the worsening humanitarian situation. “If fuel does not enter into these areas soon, it will cause a humanitarian disaster. We have reduced the production of bread in bakeries, and water supply has become scarce.”
The source indicated that the AANES agreed the terms of the Syrian government saying that a convoy of several tankers is scheduled to head to Aleppo from Manbij in the coming few days.