AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – In history, Afrin had never known camels, neither in city nor in the countryside. The mountainous area of Afrin with rarity of grass and plants in addition to its moisture is not providing minimum bases for camel raising.
Afrin is a mountainous region lies in the northern countryside of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria. It has been under the control of Turkish forces since March 2018 following the “Olive Branch” military operation with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of protecting its national security.
The operation resulted in the displacement of the original inhabitants of Afrin. Instead, settlers from Rif Dimashq, Homs, Idlib and other governorates have been settled in Afrin.
Though its nature is not permissible, camel trading and raising was strikingly inserted into Afrin by a number of settlers who came to the region in 2018.
This new career is “strange” to Afrin. Usually camels need dry thorny plant, high temperatures and sand plains to live. All of this is not available in Afrin. The muddy feature of Afrin could also make avalanches.
As camel breeders intend to increase the numbers, agricultural engineer Mamdouh Hamo, an IDP from Afrin warns against the negative reflection of that on agriculture, trees and the forestry in the region. Camel can eat leaves of trees from at the height.
Unless tied, camel would damage large plots of the vegetation of Afrin, more specifically grains, trees and forestry, Hamo said.
Hamo, who is now working in a farm south of Aleppo contains a number of camels, said that camels devour olive trees, leaves and branches. There remains just the stem. Photos obtained by North Press attest to that.
Before the war, camel raising in Syria was concentrated in separate areas, more notably were Hamad Desert close to Tanf, Abu Kamal and Deir ez-Zor. These areas suited greatly camel raising, in addition to areas in Homs, Hama, Daraa, and Eastern Ghouta.
According to reports, camels in Syria have been decimated. Before the war, there were some 5.000 camels. There are no available data on camels in Afrin; however some put it at tens.
Abu Muhammad, a camel breeder and trader in Afrin, said that they buy camels from the farms at the outskirts of the city of al-Bab, east of Aleppo, which is under Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), indicating that the job faces a lot of difficulties in the region due to the lack of specialists in this kind of livestock, lack of farms and enough plants.
The trader do not conceal that such a kind of livestock do not suit the nature of the region with the lack of large grazes notably in winter.
According to Abu Muhammad, the number of camels is “acceptable” adding that they intend to increase their caravans.
An auctioneer that sells camels said they find grave difficulties in providing fodder amid low prices of camel meat compared to that of sheep.
Only settlers trade in camel meat. Its meat is not susceptible by the indigenous people of Afrin. They prefer sheep, hen, cow and fish to it.
There are no Afrin original inhabitants who raise such kind of livestock that is limited to settlers too.