SYRIA: Areas occupied by Turkey experience lack of security and difficult living conditions

HOLEB, Syria — In the areas of northern Syrian under Turkish occupation, criminality has become the norm, with members of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) responsible for killings, thefts, kidnappings, and the general lack of security.

The deteriorating living conditions, high prices, and the loss of some commodities as a result of monopolies controlled by militant factions aligned with Turkey have increased the suffering of the population, pushing them to gather for public protests and demonstrations — which are all too often violently suppressed.

The people in areas under Turkish control are experiencing difficult living conditions, along with a severe shortage of basic necessities, such as bread, fuel, and food, as a result of the Turkish monopoly on basic materials and their failure to provide them to citizens.

In protest against difficult living conditions and poor service provision, residents once again took part in protests in the center of Jinderes, Marea, and the Soran area of Azaz in the northern countryside of Holeb (Aleppo).The areas occupied by Turkey, especially in and around Cafrin (Afrin), still witness continuous killings and kidnappings amid a state of security chaos and frequent theft of citizens’ property.

Police affiliated with the SNA in Rajo kidnapped citizens Ahmed Rashid Rashid and Hassan Ahmed Breem from Hajiko Tahtani village for the purpose of material extortion and collecting ransom from their relatives. They were taken to the military headquarters in Rajo and their fate is still unknown.

Meanwhile, violent clashes erupted in Jinderes between members of Ahrar al-Sham, a member faction for the SNA, in an internal dispute over the sharing of stolen goods seized from the residents of the area. Light and medium weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), were used in the fighting. Mahmoud Al-Binyan, the leader of the Al-Muhajireen Brigade faction, was killed along with a number of other fighters.