The Afrin-Syria Human Rights Organization reported that Turkish-backed mercenaries and collaborators seized the olive harvest from more than 150 trees belonging to citizen Shukri Dimili near the village of Hayat – Sahl al-Katakh in Afrin countryside.
According to the organization, the looting was carried out in a brutal manner, with tree branches being broken in front of their owner, who stood helpless, amid the absence of justice, worsening lawlessness, and the spread of weapons in the area.
The organization documented that in recent days, olives from around a thousand trees have been stolen from the city of Afrin and its surrounding villages. The thefts were carried out by mercenary groups through their so-called “economic” commanders. These commanders reportedly brought between 100 and 300 people into the region, who stole olives in groups and shared the loot with their superiors.
After Afrin was invaded by the Turkish state in 2018, a regime of terror and plunder was established. Olive trees and olive-based products, the region’s primary resource, were stolen and commercialized globally, while thousands of trees were cut down and either smuggled to Turkey or sold in the occupied areas.
Afrin occupied since 2018
Afrin Canton was the westernmost canton of Rojava and North and East Syria, home to 200,000 ethnic Kurds. Though the population was overwhelmingly Kurdish, it was home to diverse religious groups, including Yazidis, Alawites and Christians, alongside Sunni Muslims.
On 20 January 2018, Turkey launched air strikes on 100 locations in Afrin, as the onset of an invasion they dubbed ‘Operation Olive Branch.’
The Turkish Air Force indiscriminately shelled civilians as well as YPG/YPJ positions, while a ground assault was carried out by factions and militias organised under the umbrella of the Turkish-backed National Army.
By 15 March, Turkish-backed militias had encircled Afrin city and placed it under artillery bombardment. A Turkish airstrike struck the city’s only functioning hospital, killing 16 civilians.
Civilians fled and the SDF retreated, and by 18 March Turkey was in de facto occupation of Afrin. Between 400 and 500 civilians died in the invasion, overwhelmingly as a result of Turkish bombing. Other civilians were summarily executed in the field.
Prior to the Turkish invasion, Afrin had been one of the most peaceful and secure parts of Syria, virtually never seeing combat during the civil war but occasional skirmishes between YPG/YPJ and jihadist forces on its borders. As a result, Afrin offered peaceful sanctuary to over 300,000 internally displaced people from elsewhere in Syria.