ALEPPO, Syria — The local council in the city of Akhtarin, in the northern Aleppo countryside, announced on Jan. 2 that it would confiscate the property of people and families who had joined the ranks of the Islamic State (IS) or fought alongside regime forces. The decision took immediate effect. The money generated will go toward the orphans created by the war and their caregivers.
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) took Akhtarin in early 2012, after expelling regime forces. The FSA then lost the city to IS, which took control of it on Aug. 13, 2014. On Nov. 2, 2016, the FSA recaptured Akhtarin as part of Operation Euphrates Shield, the cross-border operation launched Aug. 24, 2016, by the Turkish military and largely FSA-affiliated, allied Syrian militias. The campaign moved across the northern and northeast countryside of Aleppo.
