Two Kurdish elders in Afrin have been horrifically murdered by Turkish militia members within two days of each other, in two separate incidents, casting new light on the brutality of the Turkish occupation of Afrin.
An elderly Kurdish woman was hanged to death in Afrin, likely by members of “the Samarkand Brigade,” a Turkish-backed militia controlling her village. After her hanging, a number of her family members and her neighbors were then kidnapped by “the Samarkand Brigade” and brought to Turkey.
Upon returning home from the field on April 18, 2020, the children of the Kurdish elder Fatima Kanna, 80, found their dead mother hanging from an olive tree at their home in the village of Hekeche, in the Shieh/Sheikh Al-Hadid district of Afrin.
Kanna’s children found signs of suffocation, beating, and other wounds on Kanna’s body while washing her. This confirmed beyond a doubt that she was murdered. Kanna had visited her daughter’s house in the village earlier in the day.
After the news of the hanging broke out, “the Samarkand Brigade” then kidnapped Fatima’s sons Hanan and Muhammad, and Muhammad’s wife and his son Fawzi, as well as a number of neighbors and relatives. These detainees have been brought to Turkey, according to the Afrin Media Center.
The Kurdish elder Ali Ahmed, 74, lost his life on April 22, 2020, after being severely beaten by members of a Turkish-backed militia who were tending sheep on his land in the town of Midanky, district of Sharan, in rural Afrin, according to the Afrin Media Center.
According to sources from the town, Ali had a verbal dispute with members of a Turkish-backed militia named “the Sultan Murad,” who were attempting to graze their sheep on Ali’s land. Ali asked the militia members not to graze their sheep there, the sources say. The occupiers then replied (paraphrased), “We liberated this land with our blood and it will remain ours, and the Kurds should leave Afrin!” The militia members then undertook a severe beating of Ali with sticks.
Following the severe beating, an attempt was made to rush Ali to the Afrin Hospital, but sadly he lost his life during the journey.
The so-called “civilian police” did not interfere with the beating and did not pursue the aggressors, for fear of retaliation from “the Sultan Murad” militia and other Turkish-backed militias, who are directly involved with Turkish intelligence.