ALEPPO, Syria — The Northern Brigade, affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Afrin, was able to free 9-year-old Ahmad Taher Mostafa on Oct. 16, one day after a gang kidnapped him after his grandmother dropped him off at the private Al-Asdiqa School in Afrin.

Maysara Abdullah, a military leader in the Northern Brigade, told Al-Monitor, “The kidnappers took Mostafa away Oct. 15, and they contacted his parents, asking for a ransom of $50,000 in return for his release. The father reported the incident to the FSA, and the security office of the Northern Brigade investigated the kidnapping and pursued the gang. They found its location on the outskirts of Afrin, raided the place, freed the child and arrested the gang members.”

Abdullah added, “The security office of the Northern Brigade handed over the kidnappers to the military police in Afrin to conduct the necessary investigations, then to refer them to the FSA judiciary to be punished for their crime.” The investigations with the military police are still underway, but sources told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the kidnappers previously fought in the FSA; after their dismissal they formed a gang to kidnap people in return for ransoms.

In the past month, a number of civilians have been kidnapped from Afrin, in northwestern Aleppo province, though there are no official statistics. Afrin citizens accuse the FSA and police of not doing enough to defend residents against gangs.