Turkey-backed faction cuts down hundreds of trees in Syria’s Afrin
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – One of the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), cut down on Tuesday hundreds of trees in a forested area in Afrin region, Northwest Syria to sell the wood outside the region.
Local sources told North Press that the Sultan Suleiman Shah (al-Amshat) faction, affiliated with Turkey, cut down more than 1,000 pine trees in the forest located south of the town of Mabata (Maabatli), in Afrin northern countryside.
The tree-cutting operation is reportedly overseen by an al-Amshat security official named Abu Ghazi, who also manages the transportation, loading, and selling of the wood in Idlib markets.
Residents said that in recent months, the faction has forced dozens of farmers to use their own equipment to load the cut trees.
The al-Amshat faction has a long history of violations and imposing taxes on local farmers. In mid-September, it assaulted women who were protesting the arrests of young men from the village of Kakhra. The men had refused to pay taxes on the olive harvest.
The group, predominantly composed of Turkmen, has previously facilitated the entry of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS once known as al-Nusra Front) into Afrin and the surrounding Aleppo countryside.
In August 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated the al-Amshat for committing “serious human rights abuses” against the people of Afrin, mainly the Kurds.