Government’s Presidential Palace forces storm shops in Aleppo
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – Forces affiliated with the Presidential Palace, the home of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, raided on Saturday shops in the city of Aleppo and confiscated some goods.
A source told North Press that the Secret Office of the Presidential Palace arrived in Aleppo, northern Syria, on a 10-day mission to follow up on smuggling matters in the city.
The source said, “The Secret Office forces arrived on Thursday. They are pursuing smuggled foreign goods and confiscating them from shops.”
The source added that on Friday “a note was received demanding transferring the heads of security centers in Aleppo city and some of their assistants, without mentioning the direct reasons.”
A dealer named Obeida from the al-Aziziyah neighborhood in Aleppo told North Press that “heavily armed forces dressed in civilian clothes raided several shops in the al-Aziziyah and confiscated foreign goods that are backed with customs declarations.”
Obeida, whose shop sells clothes and shoes, said that the forces “surrounded the place and withdrew the goods without presenting any warrant or legal assignment.”
“The city’s dealers live in a state of horror due to these unjustified actions by the government, namely the raid campaigns against shops in many neighborhoods of the city with the last one of which taking place in the al-Jamiliyah,” he noted.
During the past week, the governors of Aleppo and Damascus worked to remove all stalls from the streets in cities’ centers, justifying their actions as applying the law against trespassers on public property.