HTS initiates arrest campaign in Syria’s Afrin
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front), after takeover of the city of Afrin, north of Aleppo, began an arrest campaign against settlers, activists and residents rejecting its presence in the area.
A report, publicized on Afrin Post website, said that security body of the HTS began the campaign on October 17 in the area surrounding al-Karam School, Azadi Square and al-Vilat street.
It arrested seven settlers, three of which are from al-Ghouta al-Sharqiya in Damascus. A day after gaining control over the city, it arrested six residents of Afrin in al-Ashrafiya neighborhood, according to Afrin post.
Afrin Post is media website monitors and follows up on events in north and east Syria, focusing on human rights violations in Turkish-occupied Afrin.
On October 17, HTS arrested three Kurdish young men after raiding a house in t Afrin allegedly accused of working for intelligence agencies, an exclusive source told North Press.
As a result, a state of fear and unrest spread among settlers and residents.
Military columns of HTS withdrew on Tuesday from areas in Afrin and its countryside towards Idlib, while maintaining its security forces there.
On October 13, the HTS took full control of Afrin following clashes with Third Legion, an armed bloc of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), from the city toward Azaz city.
On Tuesday, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that 58 individuals, mostly militants, were killed in a week-long fighting between SNA factions and HTS in north of Aleppo.
On October 17, the clashes between both sides came to a halt after Turkish intelligence intervened and ordered the HTS to hand over the security and military outposts in the villages of Kafr Janneh and Qatmah to the SNA’s Hayat Thaeroon for Liberation, which remained neutral during the recent clashes, an exclusive source told North Press.
Hayat Thaeroon for Liberation includes “Sultan Murad Shah Division, al-Muntasir, Al-Rahman Legion, Levant Legion, Mu’tasim Division, al-Waqas Brigade, Samarkand Brigade, Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement and Ninth Corps,” all are Turkish-affiliated factions.
Afrin, a Kurdish city in the north of Aleppo, has been under the occupation of Turkey since March 2018 following a military operation called “Olive Branch” which resulted in the displacement of about 300.000 people of the original inhabitants of the city and its countryside.