Turkish border guards assault group of Syrian asylum seekers
Afrin, Syria (North Press) – Turkish border guards assaulted on Monday at night a group of Syrians while they were trying to cross the Syrian-Turkish border in the countryside of the city of Afrin, northwest Syria.
A local source from the area told North Press that the border guards assaulted eight people, including two women after they were arrested while trying to cross the border near the village of al-Hamam, west of the town of Jindires, in Afrin countryside.
The Syrian asylum seeker were brutally beaten by the border guards using iron rods, causing bruises to many of them. The guards detained the group for hours before handing them over to Military Police, affiliated with Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka Syrian National Army (SNA), in Afrin, according to the source.
The Military Police imposed a fine of 1,000 TL (about $40) on each one of them, the source said.
All of them were released except the young man Rinas Ibrahim, 18, who hails from Jindires, as he was taken to unknown destination, the source added.
The Turkish border guards continue to shoot at civilians, who want to cross into Turkey looking for a better future or those who work in their nearby lands.
On June 16, the border guards shot at people, wounding three including a child, while they were trying to cross to Turkey near the village of Kherbet Eljoz north of Idlib, northwest Syria.