Fighting among occupation militias in Afrin

Clashes between Turkish occupation militias are taking place in Afrin. The fighting among the jihadist groups Ahrar al-Sharqiya, Ninth Division and Liwa Suqour al-Shamal is said to have been triggered by disputes over the distribution of looted goods.

Fighting reportedly broke out Monday night initially in the Welat neighborhood in central Afrin and shifted to other districts, including the train station district. In the meantime, the clashes have also spread to the Rajo district.

According to sources from the Rojava-based news agency ANHA, a militia leader from the Ninth Division was reportedly seriously injured during the fighting and admitted to a hospital in the Turkish-occupied city of Azaz. From there, a Turkish military convoy also left for Afrin in an attempt to de-escalate the conflicts. According to available information, another convoy departed from al-Bab. Near the Fatima Al-Zahra Mosque, an explosive device had exploded while one of the military vehicles was crossing. Property damage was reported.

Videos from Afrin circulating on online networks show heavy gunfire. Apparently, civilians were also caught in the line of fire. There is talk of several residents being injured, but no reliable information is available.

Time and again, clashes between militias

In the areas occupied by Turkey in northern and northwestern Syria, occupying forces repeatedly fight among themselves. Usually, disagreements over the distribution of loot, ransoms or protection money are the cause. In particular, Afrin, once the most stable region in all of Syria and a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons, which was exemplary for interreligious diversity and for multiethnic diversity, is scarred by the invasion. Murders, kidnappings, arrests and disappearances are as much on the agenda as looting, forced Arabization, forced Turkification and Islamization.