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Alexander McKeever
@AKMcKeever
, 25 tweets, 24 min read Read on Twitter
THREAD: Since the start of Olive Branch many reports of desecration of Afrin's religious sites and cemeteries have come out. Last year @ASOResearch's Jamie O'Connell published a great report compiling such claims which I will be expanding on here. (1/25) asor-syrianheritage.org/incident-repor…
Between 2/26-3/5 TSK or their allies destroyed the 'Ali Dada' shrine and part of the Anqele cemetery in order to build a military position on this W. Afrin hill. See this @bellingcat article for more detail. (2/25)
location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
bellingcat.com/news/mena/2018…
On 3/17/18 a video surfaced showing FSA fighters descretating parts of the Yezidi Kara Jorna shrine (outside Sharran). The fighter attempts to burn the ribbons placed on the 'tree of wishes' in front of the shrine. (3/25)
location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
A 3/19/18 video shows a shrine part of the Nabi Houri archaeological site appearing empty. A video shot weeks earlier shows both the shrine gate and the outside of the complex, verifying the location. (4/25)
location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
facebook.com/ahmad.hisso.5/…
According to the PYD the grave of Kurdish revolutionary Nuri Dersmi, located at in Sharran's Henan cemetery, was desecrated on 3/28. Unclear where in the cemetery the grave is. (5/25)
location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…

pydrojava.net/arabic/archive…
On 4/11 a twitter activist claimed the 'Madour' shrine near Qirigole was damaged. It appears some nearby trees have been chopped down as well. Heavy foliage in the sat. imagery makes match this a bit unclear. (6/25)

location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
This local Afrin website does, however, mention the 'Madour' shrine as being on this hill to Qirigole's west. (7/25)
tirejafrin.com/site/kura%20af…
First damaged by Turkish shelling in February, the YPG's 'Martyr Seydo' cemetery was further defaced around 4/24. This is one of 3 YPG cemeteries in Afrin. (8/25)
location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
xeber24.org/archives/99081
The Sheikh Zayd shrine, located in Afrin's al-Zayadiyyah neighborhood was reported to have been desecrated on 5/18. The shrine is possibly the structure close to the north side of the cemetery. (9/25)

location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…

hawarnews.com/ar/galeri/d8ad…
A video showing the desecration of a Yezidi shrine in the town of Feqira/Qarah Bash surfaced on 5/21. (10/25)
location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
On 5/21 Rudaw published a video showing the Henan Mosque (within the aforementioned Henan cemetery) after being gutted. An image from an unrelated article showing the mosque's minaret. (11/25)

location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…

rudaw.net/kurmanci/kurdi…
esyria.sy/sites/code/ind…
A 5/30 reported by a local activist account claimed the Protestant 'Good Shepherd Church' had been plundered by FSA factions. The church was reported on months early by Ruptly. Unclear where in Afrin city it's located. (12/25)
Some Afrin Protestants have resettled in Kobane. September 2018 report on them by @vvanwilgenburg here: (13/25)
kurdistan24.net/en/news/36aacc…
The 'Sheikhmus' shrine south of Gewenda was reported ransacked on 6/16. Almost certainly the structure surrounded by foliage. (14/25)

location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…


asor-syrianheritage.org/incident-repor…
6/21 video of desecrated 'Sheikh Rakab' Yezidi shrine in Shadira village. The disruption of graves and apparent excavation within these shrines perhaps points to people searching them for valuables. (15/25)

location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
basnews.com/index.php/ar/n…
image posted w/ a July report on abuses Afrin Yezidis faced at the hands of the TFSA. These statues of Prophet Zoroaster and Dome of Lalash, reportedly blown up, were at the Cultural and Social Yazidi Union HQ, located in somewhere in Afrin city. (16/25)

darnews.net/?p=1427
On 8/12 video surfaced showing the levelling of YPG's 'Martyr Avesta Khabour' cemetery outside Afrin city. This graveyard was dug Jan 2018 and grew throughout Olive Branch with the bodies of YPG/YPJ killed in battle.(17/25)
location:wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
This 11/11 video shows another desecrated/looted shrine, known as 'Af Ghiri.' It's located in Ma'abatli subdistrict in a Wadi known as 'Biri,' near the town of Qentere. (18/25)
location of Qentere: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
The shrine was reportedly used by adherents of the Alevi faith, whose ancestors came to the Ma'abatli area of Afrin over centuries. Images of a similar, nearby shrine, as well as some reading on Afrin's Alevis below. (19/25)
pirha.net/afrinin-mabeta…
pirha.net/mabetadaki-ale…
On 12/6 it was reported that a large oak tree over 100 yrs old was cut down at the Sheikh Hamza shrine, near Bulbul village of Ze'ire. Unclear whether purely vandalization or to sell as firewood. (20/25)
location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
facebook.com/26495343360233…
12/11 video showing the desecration of graves in a cemetery outside the town of Qurbe, Jandaris sub-district. (21/25)

location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
It was reported on 2/17/19 that a 100 year old tree was cut down and graves were disrupted in a cemetery/Yezidi shrine south of Qestel Jindo. (22/25)
location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
afrin-sl.blogspot.com/2019/02/blog-p…
The third YPG cemetery in Afrin is named the 'Martyr Rafiq,' and is located south of the Sharran town Metina. While a building on the property was destroyed in an airstrike during OB, it is hard to tell what shape the graves are in. (23/25)

location: wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3…
It's clear that the Yezidis, a Kurdish-speaking heterodox ethnoreligious group, have faced a disproportionate amount of persecution and property destruction in post-OB Afrin. Most are assumed to have fled to other parts of Rojava, or Europe. (pop. map by @LCarabinier) (24/25)
These are not all reported incidents of shrine destruction/grave desecration since the beginning of op. Olive Branch, but rather examples I've come across that are (mostly) easily verifiable. I plan on adding to this, so please feel free to bring others to my attention. (25/25)
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