{"id":115818,"date":"2024-08-05T10:03:11","date_gmt":"2024-08-05T10:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?p=115818"},"modified":"2024-08-05T10:03:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T10:03:14","slug":"arab-settlers-in-syrias-afrin-cut-down-trees-for-firewood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/115818\/","title":{"rendered":"Arab settlers in Syria’s Afrin cut down trees for firewood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013<\/strong> Arab settlers in the countryside of Afrin, northwestern Syria, are collecting branches from trees they had uprooted and gathering them as stacks of firewood, North Press correspondent reported on Monday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Arab settlers, who are residing in an IDP camp in the village of Avraz (Abraz), north of Afrin city, are engaged in cutting down forest trees on Mount Hawar and burning green spaces to produce firewood, oak timber, and charcoal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charcoal prices exceed $650 per ton. Neither the Northern Brigade, which previously controlled the area, nor the Ninth Division, which currently oversees it, has intervened in these tree-cutting operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Northern Brigade and the Ninth Division are both factions operating within the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA). They benefit financially from the revenues generated by logging and charcoal production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past two weeks, arson has ravaged various areas in Afrin<\/a>, with local councils under Turkish control making little effort to extinguish them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following its occupation of the region, Turkey resettled Arab settlers from the Syrian opposition into Afrin, placing them in the homes previously owned by the Kurdish inhabitants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city of Afrin, with the 366 towns and villages, have been under the Turkish occupation and the control of the SNA factions since 2018 following a military operation dubbed \u201cOlive Branch\u201d that aimed at pushing away the Kurdish People\u2019s Protection units (YPG) under the pretext of protecting the \u201cTurkish national security.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Siwar Hamo\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n
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