Syria’s Afrin witnesses daily infighting among Turkish-backed opposition factions
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – It seems that the clashes and infighting among the Turkish-backed opposition factions, which have controlled Afrin and its environs since 2018, have become a familiar scene experienced by those living in these areas.
Heavy and light weapons are often used by these factions in the clashes, amid a state of security chaos.
The city of Afrin is controlled by the Sultan Murad faction, the Hamzah Division, the Mu’tasim Brigade, the Levant Front, Ahrar al-Sharqiya, Jaysh al-Sharqiya, Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya, Jaysh al-Islam, and the Sham Legion (Arabic: Faylaq al-Sham)
However, the Levant Front, Sultan Murad, Sultan Suleiman Shah “al-Amshat” and Ahrar Al-Sham al-Islamiyya, are the most prominent opposition factions that control Afrin region, regarding influence, number and equipment
infighting reasons
The main cause of infighting among these factions is often due to disputes over theft plus influence, in the midst of a state of security chaos, according to press reports.
On Thursday, violent clashes erupted between two groups of the pro-Turkish Hamza faction, following a dispute between them over the sharing of homes for displaced people in the village of al-Basouta in Sherawa district, in the countryside of Afrin.
“An armed group belonging to al-Hamza faction, led by the so-called Hazim al-Mar’i, ordered the removal of all the widows of the faction’s members from the homes they had previously controlled after the displacement of their residents,” a local source told North Press.
“The decision, however, was rejected by the widows’ relatives, who are members of the same faction, and this led to clashes among them. The clashes then expanded from the village to Jabal-al-Ahlam which surrounds the area,” the source added.
Press reports say that the causes of the infighting and clashes are about the mechanism of distributing food to the families of the factions’ members, and about the revenues of smuggling routes to Turkey or controlling these routes.
Background: Since March 2018, the Afrin region has been under the control of Turkey and the Turkish-backed opposition factions.
dead and wounded
The clashes often result in deaths and injuries among the opposition factions members plus residents, not to mention the state of terror and fear prevailed in the region due to indiscriminate shooting at neighborhoods, as well as material damage to property.
On Monday, the death toll of casualties due to the infighting between pro-Turkey opposition al-Mu’tasim Division and the Ninth Division in the center of Afrin city, north of Aleppo, rose to eight members wounded and one dead.
“The members of al-Mu’tasim Division’s raided the Ninth Division’s sites in the city and controlled over them after arresting many members,” a special source told North Press.
On Sunday, clashes between Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya faction and the Civil Police in the city of al-Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo resulted in the injury of a woman and the wounding of three members of the Civil Police and four members Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya.
In early April, five members of the Sham Legion faction were wounded in violent clashes, in which all kinds of weapons were used, between two of its affiliate groups in the town of Maidanki in the Afrin countryside.