Activists in the city of Aleppo warned against the settlement of the families of Iranian militias in the second largest Syrian city, Aleppo, after recent similar settlement activities in the neighborhoods of Homs and Damascus.
"Every empty house in the western districts of Aleppo is inhabited by the family of an Iranian Shiite militant, or a fighter from Hezbollah or Houthi or Iraqi Shiite militias," one activist said.
"With the increase in the arrest of young men in the city of Aleppo, many of the families will travel abroad or move to the liberated areas, which will increases the number of empty houses and consequently increases occupation of houses by Shiite militias".
Activists also warned the people of Aleppo of the consequences of leaving their homes to these foreign families, stressing that there is a plan to convert the city of Aleppo into a Shiite city.
A citizen from the city told Siraj Press that "we see Afghans, Iraqis and Iranians in the city more than before, they might be the families of the mercenaries coming from Iran to fight on the fronts of Aleppo".
Another source said that the residents of the city are currently reluctant to sell their homes in Aleppo, because the real estate buyers pay such little sums of money to the owner and sell it to Iranians at double the prices.
Tehran relies on the Syrian businessman, Fares Shehabi, who is considered its agent for the control the city of Aleppo. Iranians have already begun buying properties in the rich areas of Aleppo as Mogambo, Shahba, Halab al-Jadeeda, Jamyat az-Zahra and al-Muhendiseen.
As Shehabi calls for the demolition of all the houses on the outskirts of the city, and not to allow rural residents to sleep in the city of Aleppo, he opens an easy path for the foreign mercenaries to settle in Aleppo.
Documents have revealed that there are 500 Iranians and 1,500 members of Hezbollah militias in the Shiite towns of Nubul and Zahra, while in ar-Rashedeen, the number of Hezbollah militias has risen to 2,000 fighters, in addition to 500 Iraqis. In Sufaira, 2,000 Iranian and Hezbollah fighters are also stationed.
Furthermore, the regime brought six thousand Shiite foreign fighters to the city in order to tighten the siege around the liberated districts of Aleppo and separate the city from its countryside. Dozens of Afghan mercenaries have been killed in the clashes raging on the fronts of Handarat and al-Mallah north-east of Aleppo.
An informed source in Aleppo told Siraj Press a month ago that "after Assad destroyed the liberated neighborhoods, he strives to purchase real estates in Aleppo in order to deliver them to his men from the cities of Nubbul and az-Zahra, while he forces the businessmen of the city to sell their properties".
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
