Turkish forces continue violence, killing civilians in northern Syria

Mustafa Kamel

The Turkish forces in northern Syria and their loyal factions continue to commit more terrorism against Syrian civilians through repeated attacks and continuous violations against them, even reaching the point of intentional killings, imposing royalties and raiding homes.

The most recent of these violations was the Turkish forces using live ammunition to break up the sit-ins of Syrians protesting against the military patrols on the international M4 Latakia-Aleppo highway.

On Sunday, April 26, Turkish forces attempted to break a sit-in near the town of Neirab, east of Idlib, on the international M4 Latakia-Aleppo highway, by firing tear gas to disperse the protesters, followed by targeting them with live bullets, which resulted in deaths.

This was not the first time this happened, as Turkish forces also stormed an advance point on the same road for those protesting in rejection of the Turkish presence. They demolished tents and formed a human wall in front of the protesters before beginning to beat some of them, while gunfire was also heard in the area, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Ankara brought a number of its military forces into Syria through a border crossing north of Idlib, consisting of 20 vehicles carrying logistical equipment towards the “de-escalation” area. The number of vehicles that have entered Syrian territory since the start of the new ceasefire reached 2,830, in addition to thousands of soldiers.

With the entry of the new Turkish convoy into Syria, the number of trucks and military vehicles that arrived in the de-escalation zone since the beginning of February has increased to more than 6,235 trucks and machinery, while the number of Turkish soldiers deployed in Idlib and Aleppo during that period reached more than 10,300 soldiers.

Imposing royalties

The Ankara-supported factions continue to repeatedly violate the Syrian civilians. Besides excavating and searching for antiquities in various areas in the countryside of Afrin, northwest of Aleppo, the Turkish-backed factions have also raided houses and imposed royalties. Recently, an elderly woman was suffocated to death by elements of the pro-Turkish Waqas Brigade who were attempting to steal her valuable personal belongings and assault the Kurds.

Also, elements of Turkish-backed factions raided the homes of civilians in the city of Afrin and arrested several people without charges. Armed men belonging to the pro-Turkish Suleyman Shah Brigade even demand that elderly detainees pay an estimated sum of $10,000 in exchange for their release from prison.