Turkey-backed militias keep detaining northern Syria Kurds
Tuesday 24/November/2020 - 08:15 PM
Ali Ragab
Militias backed by Turkey keep detaining and kidnapping civilians in the areas they control in northern and northeastern Syria.
Kidnapping operations have increased in the northern Syrian city of Afrin which is controlled by the Turkish occupation, amid total silence from the international community.
The Center for Documenting Turkish Violations in Northern Syria has documented the arrest and disappearance of 41 people in Afrin since the beginning of November.
Turkish occupation forces and Turkey-backed militias turn a blind eye, meanwhile, to calls for suspending raids on homes in the city and the arrest and kidnapping of locals there.
The systematic looting of homes and properties has become a common occurrence in the city, especially in this olive harvesting season.
In October, about 127 locals were detained in Afrin. They included seven women, according to the center.
The center added that the real number of people arrested and taken to detention centers is far larger than this.
It said there had been other cases of locals' detention, but it could not document or verify them.
Over 7,027 have been detained in Afrin since Turkey occupied the city, the center said.
It added that 1,016 of these detainees were subjected to torture and 131 killed.
The center added that the Turkish occupation forces also released 4,090 detainees, whereas the fate of the remaining detainees remains unknown.
The center noted that Turkish occupation forces also killed 470 Syrian civilians until the end of October.
