SNA chopped down 2.224 olive trees in Syria’s Afrin during Nov – SOHR
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Turkish-backed Syrian opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), cut down during the month of November more than 2.000 fruitful olive trees in the countryside of Afrin city in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
In November 2022, SOHR documented 17 incidents in which SNA factions chopped down more than 2.224 olive trees in several areas in villages and districts of Afrin.
“Turkish-backed factions continue to log trees in Afrin in the Northern countryside of Aleppo, with a view to selling them as firewood for heating and money,” SOHR stated.
The Turkish-back al-Amshat faction imposed royalties on olive oil dealers and olive refineries’ owners in its areas of control in Sheikh al-Hadid and Maabatli districts in Afrin countryside, which amounted to $1000 per refinery and $2,500 for olive dealers.
SOHR noted that Jaiysh al-Nokhbah faction took from each family in Shikhotka village, in Maabatli district, one 16-liter-container of olive oil as a royalty.
In addition, the faction forced residents to give 10% of their olive season before the olive harvest, threatening to imprison them if they refused to pay, according to SOHR.
SOHR also documented 22 theft accidents carried out by SNA factions, including the looting of the product of nearly 728 harvested olive trees.
On November 27, SOHR reported that Jayish al-Nukhbah faction seized nearly 12 hectares of farmlands in Sharan district in Afrin countryside, which were owned by a refugee living abroad.
The city of Afrin and its countryside has been under the control of Turkey since March 2018 following a military operation called “Olive Branch”.
The operation, launched by the Turkish forces and the SNA factions, caused the displacement of more than 300.000 of the original inhabitants of Afrin, who have been taking shelter in 40 villages and five camps in Shahba region in Aleppo northern countryside since then.