US occupation, SDF militia intensify antiquities theft in the Syrian Al-Jazira region and Raqqa

The areas where the American occupation forces and their affiliated “SDF” separatist militia are deployed have witnessed intensified archaeological excavations, acts of looting antiquities and smuggling them to different destinations by the separatist militia.

In the western countryside of Qamishli, local sources affirmed to SANA that “the US occupation forces, positioned near Tel Mozan area, south of Amuda since 2014, have increased the areas they consider as prohibited military zones, in cooperation with the” SDF “militia.

“The area has been subjected to strict security measures to facilitate the removal of the archaeological finds they stole from the hill and smuggled them out of the country”, the sources clarified.

The crime of stealing the antiquities of the Syrian civilization and obliterating its historical features is added to a long series of daily occupation crimes committed in cooperation with the “SDF” militia, including attacking civilians, confiscating their property, constantly stealing oil and strategic crops like wheat and others, and smuggling them out of Syria.

The sources add: “The US occupation forces, in cooperation with the militia, are controlling archaeological sites that are among the world’s most important sites, such as Tel Bidar, Al-Hamma area, Life Stone, Tal Mozan, and a number of hills in the eastern countryside of Qamishli. They continue to  conduct excavations, steal and smuggle archaeological objects from the area.”

In the town of Al-Qahtaniya in the eastern countryside of Qamishli, local sources indicated that “the American occupation forces moved a set of archeologicL finds  from the hill of Muhammad al-Diab village and the archaeological hill of Laylan to their illegal bases in rural Al-Hasakah to smuggle them out of the country.”

The two hills were turned by the American occupation into a military zone after looting their artifacts, including seals, statues and gold, and transported them to its illegal bases, the sources said.

It is noteworthy that the American occupation forces tried to control Tal Dahab hill, near the Syrian Arab Army-controlled village of Tal Dahab, to place it under the control of the SDF militia to facilitate the entry of its forces and the looting of the area’s antiquities, but they failed to do so thanks to continued cooperation between the army and the people.

Amal Farhat