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Syrian opposition seeks to clamp down on looting in Afrin

The Syrian armed opposition has taken steps to curb looting in Afrin by some of its members and has promised residents that it will recover and return their stolen property.
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ALEPPO — “Opposition forces have succeeded in imposing greater security in Afrin,” said Lt. Col. Mohammad Hamadin, official spokesman for the Syrian National Army (SNA), the Turkey-allied militias of the Free Syrian Army. Hamadin, who took part in Turkey's Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, told Al-Monitor that theft and looting by opposition forces had been quelled in the city. The Turkish army and its allies in the armed Syrian opposition captured Afrin from Kurdish forces on March 18.

Following the end of the fighting, Afrin experienced a wave of assaults and “taafish,” the colloquial term for looting committed by military members. The looters and thieves, who belonged to the armed opposition, took cars, motorcycles, tractors, furniture, household appliances and other private property and robbed shops.

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