Pro-Turkish armed groups kidnap Kurdish civilians in Afrin region

ARK News: The armed factions, belonging to the Turkish army arrested on Tuesday 30.10/2018 two Kurdish civilians in rural Afrin, Kurdistan, during their work on their farmland, and their fate is still unknown, They were probably arrested to force them to pay ransom for their release.

A special source in Afrin city reported to ARK News that “Ahrar al-Sharqiya faction belonging to Turkish army arrested the two Kurdish citizens from Rajo town of Afrin, Othman Hamdu, 66, and Sheikhmous Hasko 35, during their work in their farmland, noting that their fate is still unknown.”

The same source added that “militias of an armed group arrested the Kurdish civilian, Issam Mustafa Khalil at his home in Zidiye neighborhood of Afrin city, who is from Mammilla village belonging to Rajo town, and they took him to an unknown destination.”

The source also added that “the participating factions alongside the Turkish army in the occupation of the city are kidnapping Kurdish citizens and extorting their relatives, in order to request large financial ransoms.”

The Second Hague Regulations of 1907 and the Fourth Geneva Convention of Principles Governing the Occupying Power Article 10 provide that "the taking of hostages shall be prohibited" and article 9 provides that "collective punishment of individuals shall be prohibited".

It is noteworthy that the pro-Turkish factions, which participated in the occupation of Afrin city, committed dozens of crimes against the people of the city and its rural, killing, kidnapping and torture, along with looting and theft, burning agricultural crops, the seizure of property of citizens, and the destruction of monuments which lead to the change of Afrin’s region demography.

M. Qadî

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