The cost of the Turkish state’s invasion in Northern Syria grows every day for the people of Shehba. Three civilians lost their lives and 17 others were wounded in the Turkish state’s artillery fire on the Free Shehba last week, while 3 murders were reported in the invaded areas.

The Turkish state had bombed the areas liberated by the Revolutionary Forces daily in the last week. 2 civilians lost their lives in these attacks in Til Rifat, and 17 civilians in total were wounded in Til Rifat and Um-Hosh. It also came to light that three civilians, two Arabs and one Kurd, were abducted by Turkish gangs and murdered in invaded Shehba regions Mare, Azaz and Bab.

THREE VICTIMS

Last week, Mahmut Hamdo (nee 1969) from Mare’s Sinipul village was found dead near the Arab village. A village resident who wishes to remain anonymous said a vehicle that belonged to the Sultan Murad gangs drove to a spot and dumped something late at night, and Hamdo’s body was discovered there later in the morning. Some villagers said Hamdo was one of the wealthy men of the region and claimed that he was also killed for his money, as often happens in their region.

The second victim of the gangs last week was Ali Aşık, who was murdered 4 days ago. Aşık was of the Kurds of Shehba, and his body was found between the Duval Hawa and Şudit villages. A villager who wishes to remain anonymous said Aşık (from Bab’s Kıbbeshih village) was taken from his home by Turkish gangs and his body was found later on.

The third victim was Fehid Mahmut, of the Arab people there, and he was abducted by the Ahrar u Sham gang in Azaz last week on allegations that he worked for the Kurds. His body was found two days after he was abducted, and the body clearly shows signs of torture and severe battery. Local sources said Fehid Mahmut’s large sum of money and his car was also confiscated by the gangs and that Ahrar al-Sham killed him for his money

THEY TORTURE THEIR OWN WIVES AND CHILDREN TOO

The oppression, thievery and rape in the region invaded by the Turkish state is not limited to these deaths. The Turkish state’s gangs make life a living hell for Arabs and Kurds who don’t work for them in Shehba, and they also torture their own families.

10 days ago, photographs from a Sultan Murad gang member from Bab’s Bizaa village torturing and killing his own 1.5-year-old daughter to punish his wife who left him when he took a second wife were shared on social media. According to locals, the gang member was released by the Sultan Murat gang even though he tortured and killed his own daughter, and the gang tried to blame the child’s mother.

“WE COULD BE KILLED AT ANY TIME”

Many who had previously escaped the invaded region say there is no difference between the invasion operations of ISIS and the Turkish state and talked about the thuggery and murder system the Turkish state enacted in Shehba. The people of Shehba who still live under the occupation and try to secretly make their voice heard to the outside world say that they are constantly faced with the threat of death and add: “International states and society who are silent and passive in the face of the Turkish invasion are also complicit in these massacres. Our hopes are with the SDF.”