Turkish-backed SNA faction cuts down more trees in Syria’s Afrin
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), cuts down dozens of trees in the countryside of Afrin in northwestern Syria, North Press correspondent reported on Tuesday.
A source told North Press that the trees that were cut down are located in the forest of al-Khinzir Mountain near the town of Mabata in the west of Afrin, which has hundreds of thousands of trees.
According to the source, Malik al-Jassem, aka Abu Siraj oversees the logging of trees. He is the brother of Muhammad Hussein al-Jassem (Abu Amsha), leader of the Turkish-backed Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (al-Amshat) faction.
The faction brought in dozens of workers from families of SNA militants to Afrin to work in logging operations using electric saws, the source added.
The source pointed out that trees are then sold to firewood merchants in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib, as the al-Amshat faction has close ties with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra Front).
Afrin and its countryside have been under the control of Turkish forces and their affiliated SNA factions since March 2018 following a military operation dubbed ‘Olive Branch’. Since then, the region has witnessed numerous human rights violations against its residents and their properties.
Since the occupation of Afrin in 2018, SNA factions have been logging trees, and clearing vast lands, turning green spaces into barren lands, either to sell them and make profits or to build settlements and settle families of SNA militants.