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Vegetables, oil, bags of sugar and clothing. In war-torn Syria, goods cross the front lines through arrangements between belligerents, who become trading partners to pocket millions of dollars.
Be it the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the rebels, jihadists or Kurdish forces, they all established links with businessmen to profit from a lucrative trade at the crossing points.
Several sources in rebel areas contacted by AFP – military commanders, traders, militants-, confirmed these "markets" which allowed armed groups and businessmen, some of whom were linked to the Bashar al-Assad regime, to enrich themselves in a country divided and ravaged by a devastating conflict for seven years.
The Morek crossing, between Idleb province (north-west) controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadists and rebel groups, and Hama's (center) to may It is perhaps the most emblematic of the regime, becoming a hub of the trade since November of this year.
"When we talk about trade between factions and the regime, this is the main thing," he said. 'AFP Abu al-Hoda Al-Sorani, who manages this pbadage for HTS.
Every day, sugar, gas cylinders, spare parts for cars arrive from government areas in the Hama area before crossing Morek to enter Idleb, according to sources by the way.
In exchange, vegetables, pistachios, clothes or biscuits imported from neighboring Turkey arrive in the prorégime sectors.
"It's the money that makes things move", continues M Sorani, adding that the regime side, transactions are managed by a single businessman he did not name.
According to a source in the rebel territories close to the case, this businessman, nicknamed " Ghowar ", pay the regime's forces at least a milli there are dollars every few months, to use exclusively the road leading to Morek.
"It is he who fixes the taxes levied on the road at each checkpoint of the regime" before reaching the pbadage, adds this source, which like others interviewed by AFP, have requested anonymity for security reasons.
– "Warlords" –
On the other side of Morek, HTS imposes taxes on goods transiting by him, and monopolizes the sugar trade which earns a lot of money, according to the same source.
The jihadists had increased taxes on stone shipments – from 400 to 1,500 dollars. But on July 8, stonemasons protested and obtained a drop in taxes, according to an AFP correspondent on the spot.
Bbadam Abu Abdallah, director of the Damascus Center for Strategic Studies, acknowledges that these pbadages are "a fait accompli, dictated by the military situation"
"In Syria as in all conflicts, warlords appear.A network of interests uniting the belligerents is created, because of profits" they can
According to expert Ayman al-Dessouki, of the Turkish-based think tank Omran, "the pbadages generate millions for the forces that control them and the men of business". "They represent an important financial windfall for the insurgents, after the decline of the aid of the Gulf countries."
As for the regime, "the profits paid to the dams make it possible to guarantee the loyalty of the forces and the allied militias which "
Business is so good in Morek that an Islamist rebel group, Ahrar al-Sham, also wanted to take advantage of it, diversifying the activities of its own Qalaat al- Madiq, about thirty miles away, according to a rebel source.
But "HTS prevents large trucks from reaching Qalaat al-Madiq" and only a few goods use it.
– "Bill Gates of Ghouta "-
Further north and despite their animosity, Kurds and rebels supported by Turkey, also trade.
The Hamrane crossing in the province of Aleppo is held by Kurdish militiamen. one side and one rebel group on the other. Daily, up to 60 tanker trucks carrying crude oil from Kurdish areas arrive in rebel areas where the oil is refined, said a manager in pbading.
The trade is also in the opposite direction but Ankara decides to products List. Fertilizer is banned "because it contains chemical substances that can be used in the manufacture of explosives.Cement and iron also because you can build barricades with", he said.
Even in besieged areas, these arrangements existed.
During the five years of siege by the regime of Eastern Ghouta, where people died because of lack of medicine and food, only one man controlled everything that entered the area: Mohieddine al-Manfouch, owner of a dairy factory, according to rebels and local traders.
He alone had the right to pbad rice, flour, sugar, and clothing in this former rebel stronghold near Damascus reconquered in April by the regime, where these products were resold at prices too high, according to these sources.
"The regime allowed certain commodities to enter through Manfouch.He was their accredited trader, we had not There is no choice but to deal with him, "says Ybader Delwane of the rebel group Jaich al-Islam.
In 2014, Damascus had entrusted him with a" monopoly "for trading with the Ghouta, Aron Lund wrote in March , expert at the Century Foundation think-tank, in the journal Foreign Policy. "By working with both rebel commanders and the regime, he obtained a pivotal role in the economy" of the region.
Goods arrived in Ghouta through the al-Wafidine corridor, nicknamed "the Million Pbadage, "in reference to the exorbitant kickbacks paid for moving goods."
At the dams of the regime, the bribes paid by the businessman could exceed $ 4 per kilo. Lower bribes were paid to the rebels.
"He was the Bill Gates of Ghouta," loose Abu Haitham, 55, a rebel ex-combatant. "He built his fortune with the siege and the hunger of the people."
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