ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Armed thieves broke into the home of a 65-year-old man in Afrin, beating him and stealing cash, a human rights monitor said on Thursday, adding that incidents like this are happening more frequently and going unpunished.
“The armed thieves broke into his house at night, beat the elderly man severely, causing injuries to his face and hands, and stole 300 US dollars and 1,600 Turkish liras, which were the man's savings. They also damaged the furniture and caused chaos and panic in the house,” read a statement from the Human Rights Organization-Afrin.
The 65-year-old victim, Hanif Ahmed Abdo, speaking in a video published by Welat TV, said that they broke into his home in Ain Dara at 2 am on Wednesday morning and did not leave until around 5:30 am.
This reported robbery is the latest in an apparent rise in theft and assault crimes targeting the homes of elderly people living alone, especially in villages.
“The people of Afrin city and its countryside are exposed daily to incidents of theft, robbery, and looting. These incidents have increased in the absence of justice and accountability, leaving thieves and criminals to operate freely under the watch of Turkish occupation forces and factions supported by Turkey, without any accountability,” said the Human Rights Organization-Afrin.
In another incident, forces of the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade imposed a $500 extortion fee on an elderly Kurdish man in the countryside of Afrin on Thursday, taking his money by force, according to the monitor.
Afrin is a Kurdish-majority region in northwest Syria that is under the control of militia groups that seized the area seven years ago. Many families were displaced and the militias have committed numerous violations against the Kurdish population that remained, drawing international condemnation.
