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2023-02-22 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
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HTS Steals Quake-Relief Aid, Monopolizes Markets In Syria’s Northwest
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I’m sure we are all shocked to discover that jihadis act like rapacious bandits instead of pure-minded saints. [NPASyria] Mulhem Jamil, 41, a pseudonym for a resident of the city of Idlib, was forced to cancel a project he had prepared with a group of volunteers, which included erecting 150 tents for those affected by the earthquake.
At dawn on Feb. 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Syria and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
, killing more than 44.000 and injuring many more, in addition to destroying thousands of buildings.
"Our project was to build 150 shelter tents for earthquake victims in the countryside of the town of Atarib, which was severely damaged by the earthquake," Jamil told North Press. "But the unbelievable high prices of the tents, not to mention their unavailability in the market, prevented that."
The project had to be scaled down to 50 tents, and was later canceled. Inquiring about the reason for the tents’ high prices, it became clear to Jamil that the Development Office of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
 ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS, formerly al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front) itself was offering the tents for rent or sale at a price of $250 per a small tent and $1.800 for large ones.
HTS has also seized donated tents and stocked them in its warehouses to sell them later to local and international organizations, Jamil added.
The Development Office moved the quake victims’ shelters from the city of Idlib and some of its towns to the old camps designated for those displaced by war, with the aim of seizing financial and relief aid sent to the earthquake victims.
An exclusive source from the Development Office told North Press that HTS aims to add earthquake victims to the aid program targeting IDPs in the camps in order to seize hundreds of thousands of dollars and tens of tons of relief aid provided to quake-victims and store them in their warehouses.
The earthquake has become a great opportunity for merchants in Idlib to monopolize goods, taking advantage of the scarcity of some materials and the increased demand by both residents and organizations.
Prices have increased threefold compared to the pre-earthquake period, according to residents and local charities workers.
The price for blankets, mattresses, and tents to shelter earthquake-affected people, not to mention foodstuffs, were increased not despite but because of the urgent need for them.
EXPLOITING NEEDY PEOPLE
The HTS-linked Salvation Government has not only shirked its responsibility for not controlling the market by curbing monopolies and price gauging. According to press reports, the authority is itself involved in monopolizing relief supplies, most notably tents that are sold to organizations at high prices.
Hasnaa al-Ali, 32, a pseudonym for a woman from the Jindires district affected by the earthquake, currently resides in the Atme area, north of Idlib. She expresses her frustration at being unable to buy what her family needs. The family has lost everything.
"We need beddings for our children, but a single mattress is sold at $40 and a blanket at $15, knowing that both of them cost less than $20 before the earthquake," al-Ali added.
"Even the food baskets that we were supposed to get are now sold in the [Ottoman Turkish-backed] National Army souks in Afrin and in its outskirts at $70 per basket," al-Ali said.
Most of the international and local aid reached the region but not those most affected by the earthquake, according to al-Ali.
The majority of it is stored in HTS warehouses and those of the Ottoman Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), she said.
DEVASTATED AREAS TURN INTO MARKETS
Fadi Haj Ali, 50, an employee in the Development Office and responsible for overseeing the shelters, said that "the number of earthquake-affected people is rising with frequent aftershocks causing cracks in buildings in addition to thousands of Syrians returning to Idlib and its countryside."
Haj Ali justified the high prices of tents and relief equipment because of "the ability of NGOs to buy large amounts from markets, making it unable for locals and small merchants to purchase."
"Most aid reaches HTS’ Development warehouses in large numbers, but the distribution mechanism is exclusive to certain people among the HTS," he said.
This has infuriated many locals. Only 400 tents out of 2.200 stored in Development warehouses were distributed to affected people in the last days.
Devastated areas in Jindires, Idlib, and its countryside have transformed into big markets for tents and food parcels, which are traded by supervisors and executives of the HTS and SNA, says Haj Ali. 
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Posted by trailing wife 2023-02-22 00:00||
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File under: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra)
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Posted by Abu do you love 2023-02-22 03:14||
2023-02-22 03:14||
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Posted by Ebbains Threrenter5475 2023-02-22 05:19||
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