66 arrests documented in Syria’s Afrin during December, VDC-NSY
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – More than 66 people have been arrested during December in the city of Afrin and its villages north of Aleppo, north Syria, Violations Documentation Center in Northern Syria (VDC-NSY) said.
Turkish forces and the Turkish-backed armed factions arrested about 66 people in Afrin during December 2021, the VDC-NSY stated in a report published yesterday.
The accurate number of arrestees is much more especially since there are names whose families refused to mention, in addition to cases that they were unable to access, VDC-NSY report read.
The VDC-NSY monitored and documented the killing of civilians under torture and multiple cases of violations.
Areas in Afrin witness organized looting, seizing homes and properties of residents, olive harvests, cutting down trees on a daily basis, in addition to arbitrary arrests, kidnapping people for ransom, and suppressing residents, VDC-NSY noted.
Since the Turkish forces and opposition factions took control of Afrin city, the center has documented the arrest of 8,179 people, where 1,635 people were tortured, 174 of them were killed, and about 5,430 were released, while the fate of the rest detainees is still unknown, according to the report.
The number of those released after paying ransoms amounted to 1,335 people, the report noted.
The city of Afrin and its villages, north of Aleppo, have been controlled by Turkish forces and the affiliated factions since March 2018.