Qasad militia continues to besiege the people of Qamishli by imposing exorbitant royalties on commercial activities and medical clinics

The Qasad/SDF militia linked to the American occupation continues its violations and harassment of the people in the city of Qamishli by imposing royalties on the owners of commercial and economic activities in it.

The militia, which seeks to secure the salaries of its fighters and workers in its ranks through what it stole from the bounties of the Syrian Jazeera area, especially oil and wheat, in cooperation with the American occupation forces, was not satisfied with that.

These practices aroused widespread resentment among the merchants and owners of crafts and various professions, considering “these violations as an intolerable restriction on the people and the sharing of their livelihoods for them.”

Civil sources indicated that “more than 160 shops in the city of Qamishli were closed by their owners in protest against the imposition of these exorbitant royalties, which are collected by force and under threat,” pointing out that the militia demanded the shop owners to pay sums of money as “taxes” for each electrical piece in stores selling electrical appliances, in addition to the imposition of a tax on every referral to a doctor’s office, to be collected by force from the doctor who owns the clinic.

The same sources added: “The goldsmiths’ shops in the city cannot display all the gold coins because those Qasad militia fighters take a percentage of the money from them for each piece of jewelry displayed on the storefronts, which led to a decline in sales and prompted others to close their shops,” considering these measures negatively affect their life by force, especially since the sums of money imposed on them are not commensurate with the reality of the market and the movement of buying and selling in it.

In this context, the militia collects money under the so-called donations from homeowners in the city and compulsorily. It also imposes a tax on each house under the so-called water and electricity subscription, knowing that the majority depend on the amperes paid in advance for the owners of private generators. The militia cuts off electricity for the entire neighborhood until they pay the taxes and royalties imposed on them.

NR