Turkish-backed factions kidnap tribal sheikh in Syria’s Afrin
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Turkish-backed Syrian armed opposition factions kidnapped a tribal sheikh in Afrin city, north Syria yesterday.
Members of the Turkish-backed Levant Front attacked young men of al-Bobanna tribe near the entrance of the Turkish-controlled city of Afrin from the east, Human Rights Organizations-Afrin reported.
This occurred two days after tightening the screw on the members of the tribe by militants of the faction, who imposed a siege on the house of the head of the tribe Sheikh Fares al-Khalil, according to the organization.
On November 3, the organization said, the militants of the Levant Front faction fired at the son of Sheikh Fares causing him to be critically wounded, according to the local website Afrin Post.
A patrol affiliated with the Levant Front faction headed by Ali Kaseho Abu Hussein raided the house of Sheikh Fares al-Khalil, and fired a barrage of bullets injuring the son of Sheikh Fares, it added.
Following the incident, the faction kidnapped Sheikh Fares along with all women and men who were inside the house and took them to an unknown place, according to the information received.
Since the Turkish forces and their affiliated armed factions took control over Afrin, Violations Documentation Center in Northern Syria (VDC-NSY) has monitored the killing and wounding of 8,220 people, and 7,851 arrestees of which 5,330 were released while others are facing unidentified fate.
In late October, Turkish intelligence arrested an elderly man from Sariya village, in Afrin city north Syria.
In mid-October, the Turkish intelligence and its allied factions detained seven civilians, including two women, in a campaign of arrests in Afrin and its outskirts.
Yesterday, the Turkish intelligence arrested Jiwan Hikmat Selko and Abdo Ahmad Aliko, from Iska village, west of Afrin, accusing them of dealing with the Autonomous Administration, a local source told North Press.
The city of Afrin and its villages, north of Aleppo, have been controlled by Turkish forces and the affiliated factions since March 2018.
The Afrin region has been witnessing cases of killing, kidnapping and arrest, in addition to frequent bombings, amid the inability of the factions controlling it to settle the security in the region.