By Siwar Hamo
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Over the past two weeks, arson has devastated the forests and olive groves in Afrin, a city in northwestern Syria. The Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), have been accused of orchestrating these fires to facilitate logging activities.
Experts monitoring the situation suspect that the SNA is deliberately targeting the city’s green cover, either directly or indirectly. In June 2023, there was a similar incident where areas on Mount Hawar were intentionally set ablaze by wood and charcoal traders in collusion with the SNA. This fire destroyed over 100 hectares of land near the villages of Jabaliya (Gunde Chiye) and Dik (Gunde Dikeh), which are part of the town of Rajo in the north of Afrin city.
The damage was not limited to forested areas, more than 250 olive trees and 1,100 fruit trees belonging to the residents of these areas were burned.
Factions and settlers
Other parts of Mount Hawar, including the southern areas near the villages of Avraz (Abraz) and Shorba in the town of Mabata, north of Afrin, have also been engulfed in flames. Arab settlers in Avraz IDP camp are reportedly cutting down oak shrubs and burning the remnants to clear the land, then collecting and transporting the remains through faction checkpoints in exchange for a monetary share.
Following its occupation of the region, Turkey resettled Arab settlers from the Syrian opposition into Afrin, placing them in the homes previously owned by the Kurdish inhabitants.
In the hills of the villages Darwish and Atmana, northwest of Afrin, fires have burned under the watch of the SNA factions and the local council founded by Turkey.
Ten days ago, a significant arson incident occurred near the village of Ali Biske, north of Afrin, attributed to militants from the SNA’s Sham Legion faction. According to sources, the militants established a charcoal kiln near the fire site, which destroyed several oak trees and dozens of olive trees.
A week ago, members of the same faction set fire to the forest in the village of Kusan, northwest of Afrin. The blaze spread to extensive areas, affecting the hills around the villages of Shengal, Bak Ubesi and Ali Karo in the town of Bulbul, north of Afrin city.
Residents have reported that settler families brought in by Turkey after its takeover of Afrin in 2018 were responsible for starting the fire after cutting down trees in Rajo.
Video footage obtained by North Press showed groups of workers collecting branches and firewood after the fires broke out.
The city of Afrin, with the 366 towns and villages, have been under the Turkish occupation and the control of the SNA factions since 2018 following a military operation dubbed “Olive Branch” that aimed at pushing away the Kurdish People’s Protection units (YPG) under the pretext of protecting the “Turkish national security.”
Attempts to extinguish
The wind and the mountains in the area hindered residents from extinguishing the fires, making it difficult to control. Some Kurdish residents, who are indigenous to the area, are reluctant to intervene or even discuss the situation for fear of retaliation from SNA members.
A worker with the local council in Afrin, affiliated with the SNA, told North Press that the civil defense dispatched a single fire truck two or three times. However, once the water supply was depleted, the truck left and did not return, leaving the fires to continue ravaging the trees.
The worker added that the civil defense cited the rugged and remote nature of the locations as the reason for their limited response.
Since the occupation of Afrin in 2018, SNA factions have been extensively logging trees and clearing large areas of land. This deforestation has transformed previously green spaces into barren landscapes, either for profit through the sale of timber or to make way for new settlements and accommodate families of SNA militants.