Turkish-backed faction cuts down 200 olive trees in Syria’s Afrin 
ALEPPO NORTHERN COUNTRYSIDE, Syria (North Press) – A Turkish-backed armed Syrian opposition faction cut down, yesterday, 200 olive trees in Afrin region, northern Syria.
The Sultan Suleiman Shah faction, known as al-Amshat, cut down 200 olive trees in a village north of Afrin in Aleppo northern countryside, a local source told North Press.
The trees are owned by Qaziqly Suleiman, who displaced to Aleppo city following the Turkish invasion of Afrin in 2018, the source said.
The armed factions turn the trees to firewood for sale in the markets of Afrin city or export it to areas in Idlib held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) in exchange for huge sums of money that goes to leaders of the factions.
Logging and cutting down trees in Afrin increase in winter, despite the opposition groups’ pledging to prevent this practice fearing accountability.
As a result of the Turkish invasion of Afrin in March 2018, more than 300,000 indigenous people were displaced and thousands families of the Syrian opposition factions were settled in the Afrini’s homes and lands.
Afrin is one of the most important Syrian regions known for olive growing, where the number of olive trees until the end of 2017 reached more than 18 million, 16 million of which were productive, according to the approved toll by Autonomous Administration in Afrin at the time.