Outrage mounts in Syria’s Afrin over killing of child by settler
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Dozens of residents of the town of Jindires, north of Aleppo, northwest Syria, mourned on Thursday the death of Ahmad Khaled Ma’mo Madeh, a child who was killed on Wednesday by a settler from Idlib.
This incident, in which a settler from the Idlib countryside murdered the young boy and threw his body into a well on the outskirts of Jindires in Afrin, has sparked widespread public outrage in the region.
According to the Human Rights Organization -Afrin –Syria, the settler responsible for the crime is Yaman Ahmad Ibrahim, originally from the village of Sinjar in the Idlib countryside.
He killed the 16-year-old Ahmad Khaled Ma’mo Madeh and threw his body in a well on the road to the village of Tel Slor in Jindires countryside.
The organization reports that Yamen Ahmad Ibrahim, who used to work at a bakery owned by the victim’s father, had a week-long dispute with the victim’s father, which ultimately led to the killing of the young boy.
In response to the heinous crime, residents of the town took to the streets in protest against the ongoing violations they have been subjected to. The Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), responded by firing directly at the protesters to disperse them.
The victim’s family and residents have called for widespread protests in the city of Afrin on Thursday, condemning this incident, as well as the numerous daily violations documented in United Nations reports.
The majority-Kurdish region of Afrin has been under the occupation of Turkey and its affiliated Syrian National Army (SNA) factions since March 2018 following a large-scale Turkish military operation dubbed “Olive Branch”.
The operation resulted in the killing and injury of thousands, and the displacement of about 300,000 of the original Kurdish inhabitants. As for those who chose to remain in their homeland and not to flee, they have been subjected to widespread human rights violations.
On March 20, 2023, militants of Ahrar al-Sharqiya, a faction affiliated with the Turkish-backed SNA, killed five Kurds and wounded others in Jindires for celebrating Newroz.