QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – In his shop in the central market in the city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria, Mahmoud Hassan counted the amount of his loss due to the theft of a part of a freight that he recently brought in from the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Hassan is working in selling mobile phones and their accessories.
Despite the theft he was subjected to, Hassan did not show any surprise about the matter, “with every cargo there is theft of some materials, in addition to opening all the boxes.”
Hassan accused the Syrian government forces, especially the Fourth Division, of stealing goods while they were inspected in the checkpoints, before they reached the Autonomous Administration of North and East-held areas.
The Fourth Division is an elite formation of the Syrian Army, commanded by Maher al-Assad, brother of the Syrian President, Bashar Assad. It is accused of committing violations and looting the property of the residents in several Syrian regions during the years of the war.
Jamshid Ahmad (pseudonym), owner of a freight company, said that the goods are being stolen by regime members near the city of Tabqa, where there is a checkpoint, on the west bank of the Euphrates.
Tabqa is held by the SDF, while the Syrian government controls its southern and western villages.
“We are forced to pay for the customs to both the Syrian government and to the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration as well,” Hassan said.
The freight car costs $12,000 with the Syrian government, and it is about two and a half million Syrian pounds (SYP) with the AANES, he added.
Ahmad complained about the delay in the arrival of the goods, which takes about a week to reach the Autonomous Administration areas.
Mahmoud Hassan agreed with Ahmad saying “My freight left Damascus nine days ago, but it has not arrived Manbij yet.”
In addition to Tabqa crossing, goods arrive from the Syrian government-held areas to the Autonomous Administration areas through Manbij crossing, as the two crossings are the main ports for trade between the two areas.
Traders and residents used to resort to air freight between Qamishli and Damascus during the beginning of the war, but it has become very expensive, with the recent collapse of the Syrian pound.
The difficult circumstances during the years of war paved the way to the passengers’ carriers to transfer some goods, because cargo companies are delayed in delivering the goods.
However, the Syrian government prevents the buses to freight goods, unless they pay bribes to the members of the crossings and checkpoints, according to Ali (pseudonym), manager of a transportation company in Qamishli.
Ali accused the Fourth Division of stealing the goods when passing through their checkpoints.
Ali believed that the cargo tariff via buses, which costs 2,500 SYP per kilogram, is high, but it is the only alternative that guarantees the arrival of the goods on time.
The high costs of freight due to paying bribes to checkpoints’ members, do not prevent the traders from transferring goods since they add what they pay to the price of the goods.