Malak Khalil Ibo, 63, was one of the thousands of Kurds who had to flee their homes in Afrin after the city was invaded by Turkey and its Syrian proxies in 2018. She returned to Afrin in the summer of 2022, but her house and olive farm had been seized by a militia group Suqour al-Sham, according to a source close to the family.
“Grieved by the seizure of her house and the pillaging of her olive farm by the Suqour al-Sham militants, she suffered a stroke and passed away,” the source added.
Laman Khalil, a human rights activist in Afrin, told Rudaw that Ibo had been threatened by the militants prior to her death.
The source close to the family said that Ibo had made a will, asking for her body to be taken back to her house one last time. Despite the efforts of the villagers to convince the proxies to honor her wishes, the militants refused the request.
Ibo is survived by her seven children. Her husband, Manan Ibrahim, died eight years ago.
Afrin is a Kurdish city which was invaded by Turkey and its Syrian mercenaries after they launched a military operation against Kurdish fighters in January 2018. Since then, the members of the pro-Turkey groups have been accused of violating the rights of Kurds as well as cutting olive trees of Kurdish farmers.
Human rights groups and the United Nations have published reports detailing arbitrary arrests, detention and pillaging, among other violations.
