SNA-linked residents demolish Syria’s Afrin settlement ahead of departure
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Local sources told North Press on Tuesday that residents linked to the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) have demolished a settlement in the Kurdish region of Afrin, northwestern Syria, before returning to their returning home.
The sources said that the residents, originated from Idlib Governorate, completely destroyed the al-Amal settlement before leaving and returning to their original areas.
They added that the al-Amal settlement had been built on a wooded area on Mount Qazaqli, along the road connecting the villages of Kafr Safra and Haj Hassna in Jindires district, southwest of the Afrin countryside.
The sources noted that hundreds of pine trees were cut down to make way for the settlement, which had housed thousands of families from Idlib countryside.
The so-called al-Amal settlement, which covers an area ranges approximately between 40.000 and 50.000 m², includes a school, a nursery, a mosque, a clinic, small gardens, and several shops, as well as a water well and gravel roads, according to a report published by Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) on Sep. 20 2022.
Following the occupation of Afrin in 2018 by Turkish forces and the affiliated armed opposition factions, known as SNA, tens of thousands of trees in the area were cut down, where vast spaces of forests were replaced by building settlements.