Afrin .. A year on the massacre of Mahmuodiya

ARK News: Yesterday was the first anniversary of the massacre of Mahmuodiya neighborhood of Afrin Kurdistan of Syria which killed dozens of Kurdish civilians who had decided to return to their villages and fled from heavy shelling in the center of the city.

As a result of the war and violent clashes in the border villages and towns of (Shara Bulbul and Rajo), tens of thousands of Kurds fled towards the center of Afrin. On March 16, 2018, the Kurds decided to return to their villages and border villages, despite the continued shelling and clashes on the center of Afrin, however, through the Mahmuodiya checkpoint, the PYD prevented the villagers from returning to their villages and put barriers to prevent the return of the villagers to their villages, while the checkpoint at the crossroad of Turinde village was available so that the residents could move towards the towns of Nubil, Zahra and Aleppo areas.
During the return of the residents and because of their insistence to return to their villages the PYD exploded gas cylinder that killed dozens of civilians and wounded dozens The PYD media reported that an aircraft targeted civilians gathered at the Mahmuodiya checkpoint and then civilians were forced to leave through Turinde checkpoint to the rural areas of Aleppo.

According to an eyewitness who decided to return to his villages (H.M.A.) confirmed to the ARK Media Foundation that the massacre caused by the explosion of a gas cylinder and all said that the massacre was the result of the bombing of the plane are baseless, stressing "I did not hear the sound of a plane flying overhead."

A massive campaign of displacement began towards the villages of in rural Aleppo and Nubil and Zahra areas. And two days after the massacre the armed group entered Afrin city center.

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