Turkish-backed SNA chops 100 olive trees in Syria’s Afrin
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, also known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), cut down 100 olive trees in the city of Afrin and its countryside and transferred them to the city of Idlib, northwest Syria, to be sold as firewood, Afrin Post, a local website, said on Monday.
It added that militants of the “Sultan Murad” faction cut down 60 olive trees situated near Afrin River, the trees belong to the IDP, Abdulkarim Hassan Abdo, who hails from the village of Qortqlaq.
The militants sent the trees to the city of Idlib to be sold as firewood, according to the website. This took place under the plain sight of the security authorities operating in the region.
30 olive trees on a route leading to the village of Freriyah in the countryside of Jindires were chopped by militants of al-Mawali clan, the website said, adding that the trees belong to Jumaa Ali.
In a separate incident, militants of the same clan chopped ten olive trees of Fathi Battal, a resident of the village of Kafr Zit, west of Afrin city.
On March 31, the website monitored the chopping of 85 olive trees in the Sharran sub-district, east of Afrin, by militants of the Turkish-backed Suleiman Shah.
Afrin and its countryside have been under the occupation of the Turkish forces and the SNA factions since March 2018 following the so-called “Olive Branch” military operation that was launched allegedly to push away the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of protecting “Turkish national security.”
The operation caused the displacement of about 300,000 of the original inhabitants of the Kurds of Afrin who have been taking shelter in 42 villages and five camps in Aleppo northern countryside, locally known as Shahba Region, since then.
After the occupation of Afrin, thousands of olive trees have been cut down by the SNA factions, according to press and human rights reports.