Lelun Afrin
A video clip on 6th April 2024 showed details of the crime of attacking an elderly Kurdish man named “Farid Suleiman Hasso” 60, and his son “Muhammed Hasso” 15, from Kakhreh/Yakhour village in Maabatli district of Afrin by two displaced shepherds and members of the military headquarters of the Al-Hamza Division (Al-Hamzat) on its land near the Gawrekan/ Gawreka village in the Jenderes district.
Mr. Farid, accompanied by his son had seen two displaced shepherds grazing their cattle in the olive field owned by Mr. Farid. When he asked them to remove their cattle from the field, they insulted and threatened them. Each one of them pulled out a knife and threw stones at them, the elderly Farid was injured with his right hand.
After a while the two shepherds returned to the village threatening that they would bring armed members from the headquarters to assault and beat them. After an hour, they returned to the field, accompanied by armed members, who severely beat “Muhammad Farid” with sticks while he was plowing his field with the tractor until he fainted and was covered in blood. They also beat the elderly “Farid”, then people took two men to the hospital.
A private source from the region confirmed to “Lelun” that the incident of assault on the elderly “Farid Hasso” and his son was for no apparent reason, other than that the violators are reinforced by the armed factions who belong to the Hamzat and Al-Amshat factions, saying:
“The victims filed afford a complaint against the violators but we do not believe that this will do them justice. The case of the victims of Nowruz of Jenderes is a good example of this. During the olive seasons, incidents of olive theft were repeated without the thief being detected and held accountable.”
The source also indicated that these cases continue, as it is: “The rule of the strong over the weak. If they had known that they would be held accountable, they would not have done so.”
After news of the attack spread on social media, the military police in Afrin claimed to have arrested two of the assailants and published their photos without mentioning their names or any other details.
Incidents of attacks on Kurdish civilians by displaced people are repeated in a systematic way without any deterrent. On the contrary, the armed factions support these displaced people and cover up their crimes against the indigenous people especially in villages and farms.
On 17th March 2024, three displaced young men residing in “Al-Hayat” village in Maabatli district attacked the citizen, “Luqman Muhammad Gulin” 54, severely beating him and then fled when Luqman was going to his field outside the village.
On 14th April 2024, “Faylaq Al-Sham” members at the checkpoint of Kousa village in Raju district, led by the so-called “Abu Alaa,” attacked a Kurdish child and young man, namely “Rayan Mustafa Ismail” 13, who was subjected to torture and “Hakim Ali Sido,” 21, under the pretext of driving too fast.
In another context, a group of displaced people in Marateh village attacked “Wissam Abdel Rahman Daoud”, 16 years old, in the Nabaa site and beating him severely, then he had transferred to Sinaa Hospital in Afrin. When Wissam’s family defended their son, members of the Hamza (Hamzat) Division intervened at the checkpoint to defend aggressors.
Violations are still continuing against the people of Afrin city and its villages of the indigenous Kurdish majority. Sometimes some people are arrested unseriously, and investigations against them are not followed up in a fair and transparent manner, the violators are often acquitted. There is pressure from factions and influential people on the victims, who are forced to make concessions for fear of the consequences of continuing to file complaints and follow up on their cases.