Violations against drivers, passengers on Aleppo-Afrin road practiced

The Syrian Transitional Government has suspended operations at the People's Municipality garage in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods by impounding all vehicles carrying residents traveling between these neighborhoods and the occupied city of Afrin, forcing them to use the central garage in Bab Jnein area.

The Transitional Government is impounding all vehicles arriving from the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh garage, despite its existence in the two neighborhoods since 1992, claiming that the drivers lack a receipt issued by the city center's garage.

The management of the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh garage reported ANHA agency that the Transitional Government's decisions are contradictory, as it accepts receipts issued by the garage for routes within the two neighborhoods and to all other governorates, including Damascus, but deny them for the Afrin-Aleppo route.

These measures have sparked outrage among residents of the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods and drivers of internal transport routes operating on the Afrin-Aleppo route, as they are forced to face numerous difficulties in this regard.

The drivers complained about the serious abuses of the head of the Afrin garage appointed by the Transitional Government, named "Hussam Ozun", including the assault on driver Suleiman Ahmed Ali, by beating him with a knife and threatening to kill his father about a month ago.

Ahmed Ali, from al-Ameirat clan, confirmed to ANHA agency that he received death threats from the director of the Afrin garage, appointed by the Transitional Government, named Hussam Ouzoun, and a member of the Transitional Government Forces named Abo Walid al-Nabhan.

Ahmed indicated that the reason his son was stabbed by individuals affiliated with Hussam Ozun, the director of the Afrin garage, was his refusal to pay a 10,000 Syrian pound fee. He asked rhetorically, "Is it acceptable to stab someone for not paying a fee?"

Ahmed called on the relevant authorities in the Transitional Government to dismiss Hussam Ozun due to the numerous abuses committed, most notably discrimination against drivers based on ethnicity. He urged the appointment of a local Afrin resident to manage the garage, as they would be better equipped to understand the region's specificities and circumstances.

Several drivers, along with Ahmed, also reported bribery at the city center's garage, where the fee for the receipt is sold for $5 to vehicles that openly and directly pick up passengers. The number of trips on the two neighborhoods and Afrin route before these violations reached about 100 trips per day, according to what was reported by the administration of the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhood garage.

ANHA