Eyewitnesses: occupation soldiers deliberately burned agricultural crops

Yesterday evening, Sunday, Turkish occupation army soldiers stationed on the border set fire to agricultural lands opposite the villages of Kharab Khurt in the northwestern Qamishlo countryside, and Doda in the Amuda countryside in al-Jazira Canton in the North and East of Syria.

The fire caused the burning of large areas of wheat and black seed crops, and firefighting teams rushed to the area and were able to control the fire, despite the crews being targeted by Turkish occupation army soldiers.

Eyewitnesses confirmed that Turkish occupation army soldiers deliberately set fire to agricultural crops.

Kamiran Ahmed, an eyewitness and a resident of the village of Kharab Khurt, narrated the events of the crime committed by the Turkish occupation soldiers yesterday, saying: “Around 18:30 - 19:00, the Turkish occupation soldiers set fire to the village lands using what are called “Molotov cocktails.” It is a bottle filled with an incendiary substance, which caused the burning of large areas of wheat and black seed crops in the villages of Kharab Khurt, Doda, and Talak, where approximately 500 dunums were burned in each area.”

He added: "While the villagers and firefighting teams were heading to extinguish the fire, the crews were directly targeted with live bullets by the Turkish occupation soldiers to prevent them from extinguishing the fire."

He expressed his fear that the Turkish occupation soldiers would try again to burn agricultural lands and said: “Last night we did not sleep for fear of setting fires in all the villages. After extinguishing the fires after 22:00, the fires were set again in the village of Doda, and the fire brigades continued to try to extinguish the fire until morning hours.

Had it not been for the intervention of the fire brigade, all agricultural crops would have burned

As for Shukri Othman Ali, a resident of Kharab Khurt and one of the eyewitnesses, he said: “About 500 dunums of wheat burned in the village of Kharab Khurt only, and had it not been for the intervention of the fire brigade, all the agricultural crops would have burned.”

On September 20, 2018, the Turkish occupation soldiers targeted the child Abdullah Barzan, from the same village, with an explosive bullet directly in the abdomen while he was playing with the children. After suffering for 5 years, the child Abdullah died as a result of his injury.

Shukri Othman Ali noted that the Turkish occupation is fighting the Kurdish people with all its might and in all aspects of life and by all means, and seeks to destabilize the security and stability of the region and target the gains that have been achieved. “But we will not retreat, and we will continue the path we took, and we will participate in the municipal elections, and we will seek to develop the North and East Syria.