On August 14, 2018, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham-HTS[1] held a public sale to sell the properties and merchandise they had seized earlier under the name "spoils", which were owned by residents of Kafriya town located in Idlib countryside, northern Syria. HTS invited everyone who wanted to attend the public sale that lasted for few hours within the town. The auction was held after the complete evacuation of the residents of al-Fu'ah and Kafriya under an agreement concluded between HTS and Iran.[2]
STJ's field researcher who was present at the auction said that HTS prevented the media persons and the participants from taking photos completely as well as denied civilians to took part, adding that the majority of the participants were HTS fighters or persons loyal to them.
The auction that took place in a school started at 10:00 a.m. and ended at 1:00 p.m., it displayed vehicles, motorbikes, second-hand cars and scraps, but they were all unfit for direct use. There were also home supplies such as windows, doors and Aluminum frames. Starting rice of the motorbikes was SYP 40,000 whereas starting price of the cars was SYP 200,000. The field researcher explained that those who took part in the auction were scrap traders in addition to few civilians and HTS fighters.
HTS controls Kafriya completely so it handed the houses to their fighters coming from provinces of Damascus countryside, Homs and Daraa. However, the main services such as water and electricity are unavailable in a good manner within the town. Water tanks that have the phrase written above "affiliated to the local administration of HTS" provide residents with water for free.
The majority of houses in the town were subjected to looting and pillage before the auction and after the evacuation, being furniture such as movables and home appliances, or home supplies such as doors and windows, besides the movement within the town is almost absent, and entering the town, taking photos or wandering within without direct authorization exposes the violator to be imprisoned by HTS, the field researcher said.
The field researcher pointed that al-Fu'ah is different from Kafriya, since al-Fu'ah is controlled by several military factions such as Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya Movement, Jaysh al-Ahrar, and Suqour al-Sham, and life is active much more than in Kafriya because some of the displaced have been recently proceeded to al-Fu'ah from other provinces despite shortage of basic services.
The Salvation Government[3] through an official statement issued on August 6, 2018, had demanded to move the displaced who reside in several schools in Idlib to both towns of Kafriya and al-Fu'ah; STJ had prepared a detailed report on the incident.[4]
[1] On January 28, 2017, several jihadist factions in northern Syria announced the merger under the name Hayat Tahrir al-Sham-HTS. These factions are: Jabhat Fateh al-Sham- formerly al-Nusra Front, Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, Liwaa al-Haqq, Ansar al-Din Front, Jaish al-Sunnah, and Ansar al-Sham Islamiyya Movement. However, after the outbreak of recent confrontations between Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya and HTS in the north of Syria July 15, 2017, Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement announced its separation from HTS on July20, 2017.
[2] On July 16, 2018, HTS had concluded an agreement with Iran to evacuate all of the residents of Kafriya and al-Fu'ah- the predominantly Shiite, and move them to Syrian regular forces-controlled areas in Aleppo province in exchange for the release of 1500 from the civilians detained in Syrian apparatus security, and the release of 40 fighters of HTS, Syrian Liberation Front, and Free Idlib Army, as well as the release of 4 civilians who were detained by the regime's militias in both towns.
[3] On October 7, 2017, the Salvation Government was announced in order to administer Idlib province and the areas controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The Salvation Government emerged from a constituent body that was emerged in turn from the Syrian General Conference which was convened on September 17, 2017, under calls by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Sessions of the Conference and the sessions on establishing the Salvation Government were held in Bab al-Hawa crossing border with Turkey.
[4] "Salvation Government Ask to Move Displaced Residing in Idlib Schools to Kafriya and al-Fu'ah", Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ), August 9, 2018, (last visit Augustb 14, 2018) https://www.stj-sy.org/en/view/668.