Local sources reported that the Turkish intelligence organisation and the al-Sharqiya mercenary group abducted three people from the village of Meka Jêrin.

The abducted locals were identified as Mihemed Henan Seydo (37), Elî Mihemed Menkawî (36) and Hisên Ebdullah Ede (37).

More than 10,400 people have been abducted since the occupation

The Turkish state established a full terror regime in Afrin, which it occupied in 2018.
According to the Violations Documentation Centre, at least 30 people were abducted in May and at least 40 people in June.

According to the Syrian Organisation for Human Rights, at least 10,332 people were abducted and 463 people were killed between 2018 and April 2024.

Once home to diverse religious groups

Afrin Canton was the westernmost canton of Rojava and North and East Syria, home to 200,000 ethnic Kurds. Though the population was overwhelmingly Kurdish, it was home to diverse religious groups including Yazidis, Alevis and Christians alongside Sunni Muslims.

On 20 January 2018, Turkey launched air strikes on 100 locations in Afrin, as the onset of an invasion they dubbed ‘Operation Olive Branch.’

The Turkish Air Force indiscriminately shelled civilians as well as YPG/YPJ positions, while a ground assault was carried out by factions and militias organised under the umbrella of the Turkish-backed National Army.

By 15 March, Turkish-backed militias had encircled Afrin city and placed it under artillery bombardment. A Turkish airstrike struck the city’s only functioning hospital, killing 16 civilians.

Civilians fled and the SDF retreated, and by 18 March Turkey was in de facto occupation of Afrin. Between 400 and 500 civilians died in the invasion, overwhelmingly as a result of Turkish bombing. Other civilians were summarily executed in the field.

Prior to the Turkish invasion, Afrin had been one of the most peaceful and secure parts of Syria, virtually never seeing combat during the civil war but occasional skirmishes between YPG/YPJ and jihadist forces on its borders. As a result, Afrin offered peaceful sanctuary to over 300,000 internally displaced people from elsewhere in Syria.