According to local sources, Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has raised tariffs on several products brought from rural Aleppo into the Idleb area, increasing the levies by up to 30 percent.
The sources said that HTS had raised import taxes on food, flour, sugar, and oil coming from the liberated areas of the Aleppo countryside through the al-Ghazawiyah crossing.
The new tax amounted to 30 USD per ton of items covered by the customs duties. The products concerned included food, fuel, and other items. The additional tax amounts to around 10 USD.
For its part, the HTS crossings department has not officially announced the decision to raise tariffs on goods entering through the Gaza crossing near the city of Darat Izza, in the northwestern Aleppo countryside.
A few days ago, activists in Syria’s northwestern Idleb governorate, quoting several motorists traveling through HTS-controlled crossings, reported that the organization was charging the fee in U.S. dollars.
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Informed local sources linked the measure to the announcement of HTS’ Salvation Government on the price of bread. The sources considered that the new tax is providing funding for the bread pricing decision, as the Salvation Government began to look for resources to cover what its media propaganda and promotional outlets trumpeted as an “honorable” policy.
Other sources in the Idleb governorate confirmed that al-Joulani’s institutions have raised the tariffs of official transactions, especially in the civil status departments by an undisclosed decision. This coincides with HTS’ efforts to collect financial revenues directly from citizens, which worsens general living and economic conditions.
HTS’ Salvation Government decided to increase the weight of bread bags. This decision reverses earlier decrees that had brought the size of a single bread bag to an unprecedented level, after it exceeded one kilogram, before the Salvation Government’s manipulation.
The Salvation Government’s methods of restricting civilians are numerous. The suffering of thousands of displaced persons has become a way to generate revenue and collect taxes at the expense of those people’s livelihoods. The Salvation Government profits from restricting organizations and their quotas, and other twisted methods aimed at generating more revenue at the expense of people’s suffering.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
