By Ardo Juweid
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – Hassan was forced to conceal his identity to arrive to the town of Mayer in the northern countryside of Aleppo, northwestern Syria. He went there to assess the state of his properties after Iranian militias seized control of the area.
Hassan Hanoura, 40, told North Press when he inquired about a friend from a militant in the militias that control the town, without mentioning he was from the original population. The militant said they were forbidden to return to the town and were wanted by the security apparatus.
The Iranian militias took possession of properties of the original inhabitants in the northern countryside of Aleppo. This occurred after taking over villages near the towns of Nubl and Zahraa.
Hanoura lost his house, farmlands, and his car when the Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed militias attacked armed opposition factions that controlled the area until 2016.
Revenge
Since the beginning of the war in Syria, the predominantly Shia towns of Nubl and Zahraa witnessed a severe siege imposed by the armed opposition factions. In response, the government forces, pressured by Iran, sent aid to these towns via air. The opposition factions blocked the main road and prevented access to logistic supplies, such as food and medicine, aiming to pressure the government forces and force them to withdraw.
A fierce attack occurred in the area in early 2016, with the participation of the government forces, Iranian militias, and their allies to break the siege. As a result, most of the population were displaced as the opposition factions withdrew.
According to official statistics by the Council of Aleppo Governorate, around 68,000 individuals from 16 villages and towns in the northern countryside of Aleppo were displaced to the western countryside as a result of the Iran-Turkey-Russia agreement in 2020.
The entire northern countryside of Aleppo was controlled by the Iranian militias, which refused the return of the original residents on the pretext of their association with the opposition factions.
Hisham Nadaf, a resident from the town of Bayanoun in the north of Aleppo, told North Press that the area as a whole suffers from the brutal practices of the Iranian militias that looted the properties of the population. The militias deprived them of their farmlands, and prevented them from returning under the pretext of “preventing the formation of terrorist cells against the militias.”
He said that even the military and security officials of the Shiite sect can no longer control them, pointing out to the frequent incidents of robbery and ransom kidnapping in roads.
Controlling resources
Iranian militias have tightened their grip on the economic and commercial activities in the region. They control the industrial factories, the distribution of gas, and the operation of bakeries.
Mahmoud Hawa, 50, a resident of the city of Anadan, in the north of Aleppo, told North Press that all economic activities, commercial business, and drug trafficking are under the control of the militants affiliated with Iran.
Hawa pointed out that they control all the factories in the northern countryside of Aleppo by imposing royalties on their owners. Hawa added that his factory was looted after the militias took control of the area.
The government has granted licenses for the distribution of gas to only residents from Nubl, allowing them to control the price of gas in the black market and manipulate its quality without any supervision.
The institutions of the Syrian government have no control over that area, according to Hawa.