SNA’s Military Police arrest civil activist in Afrin
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – The Military Police of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) arrested on Wednesday a civil activist due to a Facebook post in which he criticized “the tyranny” of SNA factions controlling Afrin.
A local source informed North Press that the Turkish-backed Military Police of the SNA had arrested activist Mustafa Abu Karam. The arrest was based on a post and video in which he criticized the “tyranny” of SNA factions that exert control over Afrin.
The activist, in his Facebook post, stated that a 27-year-old military faction leader had issued threats to a young man who had lodged a complaint against individuals associated with one of the factions responsible for assaulting him, with the intention of coercing him to withdraw his complaint.
The source reiterated that the activist was arrested due to his post on his personal Facebook account. However, the Military Police claimed that the reason for his arrest was a complaint filed by a resident against him.
On January 20, 2018, the Turkish forces and their affiliated opposition factions, known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), launched a military operation against Afrin and its countryside – including 365 villages – dubbed “Olive Branch” to push away the YPG fighters under the pretext of protecting the Turkish national security. The operation continued until March 18 of the same year which resulted in the occupation of the region by Turkey and the displacement of more than 300,000 Kurds of the original people.
Since then, the SNA factions adopted the policy of looting and seizing the properties of the people who fled to the neighboring villages in an area north of the city of Aleppo that is called Shahba region. The area includes 42 villages and towns in addition to five camps that house the Afrin IDPs.