QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Violation Documentation Center in Northern Syria (VDC-NSY) has documented the arrest of nine persons within a week in the Turkish occupied areas, north and northeast Syria, bringing the total toll of arrested civilians up to 124 since the beginning of 2022.
Turkish forces along with the Syrian armed opposition groups continue to carry out violations against civilians, as the rates of violence, crime, arrests, kidnappings, bombings, assassinations and unidentified bodies has increased in Afrin region in particular and throughout areas controlled by the Turkish forces in northern Syria.
Turkish forces and the Turkish-backed armed factions arrested more than 719 people in Afrin during 2021.
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 ransoms, and suppressing residents, VDC-NSY noted.
Since the Turkish forces and opposition factions took control of parts of the Syrian territory, the center has documented the killing and wounding of 8,605 people, 2,596 of them were killed, 8,283 were detainees, as 5,630 of them were released, while the fate of the remained detainees is still unknown, according to the VDC-NSY report.
175 people were tortured to death, and the number of Syrian refugees killed by Turkish soldiers’ bullets reached 524, including 101 children, and 67 women, the report added.
Turkish forces, with the support of the Syrian opposition groups, conducted two military operations in north and northeast Syria under the pretext of preserving the national security. In 2018, they launched Olive Branch operation during which they took control over Afrin.
In October of 2019, they occupied the cities of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad in the military operation of Peace spring.