Armed groups set fire purposely to Afrin forest for trading firewood

ARKNews: Armed groups set fire to the forest trees, cypresses and pine trees, on Friday 6/7/2018, which located in the vicinity of the villages of Meydanky and Kamrok belonging to Sharan district of Afrin Kurdistan to reach the fire at the vicinity of the village of Matina, especially it reached near the station for the purification of drinking water.

A private source from Sharan town told ARKNews site, that the gunmen belonging the armed groups intentionally and deliberately set fire to the trees of the chain mountain which extending from the village of Meydanky and Kamrok to the vicinity of the water pumping station near the Meydanky dam, and later it reached to the vicinity of the water purification plant in the village of Matina. But with the efforts of civilians and members of the local council in Sharan town, the fire was extinguished before it reached the water purification station near the village of Matina.

“The gunmen went back again, on Thursday and Friday to set fire intentionally to the trees near the Meydanky Dam and despite the arrival of firefighters from the councils of Afrin and Shoran and civil defense elements, but they were unable to extinguish the fire because of the exhaustion and the inability of cars to access high places because of the rough roads to put it out at last in primitive tools and ways and the work continued until after midnight, the same source added.”

The source pointed out that the militants are doing these works for the purpose of trading firewood and benefit from them by selling them later in the winter because they could not cut trees in front of eyes of people, when they are green.

The village of Meydanky is one of the most famous tourist villages that known for its trees and forests overlooking the lake, the trees of the forest are now subjected to the most horrible types of destruction and serious violations and the destruction of their infrastructure by those armed groups.
It is noteworthy that after the Turkish army and armed groups affiliated to it took control of Afrin. These groups carried out looting civilian’s properties and it was the fifth times that the forests of Meydanky and the surrounding villages are set on fire deliberately.

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