Turkish-backed faction blackmails a detainee’s family in Syria’s Afrin
ALEPPO NORTHERN COUNTRYSIDE, Syria (North Press) – A Turkish-backed faction raided, yesterday, the house of a detainee in the Afrin countryside, north of Aleppo, northern Syria, with the aim of extorting his relatives.
A security group affiliated with the Sham Legion faction stormed the house of Ocalan Shoti, a resident of Basofan village in Afrin southern countryside, and threatened his relatives to kill him in case they did not pay $3,000, a source from the area told North Press.
Shoti was arrested by the Sham Legion late in January from his house during a massive arrest campaign launched by the faction against the residents of the village, the source added.
Since the Turkish incursion into Syria, the killing and wounding of 8,590 people have been documented, while the number of detainees has reached 8,230, about 5,530 of whom have been released, while the fate of the rest is still unknown.
The city of Afrin and its villages, north of Aleppo, have been controlled by Turkish forces and the affiliated factions since March 2018.
Since then, the region has been witnessing ongoing security chaos accompanied by infighting among militants of the Turkish-backed factions, arrests, and kidnappings amid the factions’ disability to settle the security and spread safety.