Regime news sources and websites reported that after news circulated about traders luring farmers to cut down hundreds of olive trees, the regime's Agriculture Directorate in Tartous issued a clarification about what happened and the number of trees cut down.

The loyal newspaper "Al-Watan" quoted Tartous Agriculture Director Ali Younes as saying that arrests were made against some of those who uprooted olive trees from their lands without a license.

And pro-media media reported that unknown merchants were offering to buy uprooted olive trees.

The pro-Athar Press website said that about 100 trees were uprooted daily, and the website quoted sources in the village of "Al-Mastaba" in Tartous countryside that "traders pay sums of money for each olive tree, on the condition that it is uprooted from its roots and not just cut down."

Regarding the reasons, the sources pointed out that "the living situation is bad and the people's need for a source of income in light of the high prices, especially with the beginning of the school year and the approaching winter season, and the families' need for supplies and means of heating," according to the website.

Information circulated extensively on social media, before the governorate’s Agriculture Directorate published a book addressed to the city’s governor about the circumstances of what happened, in which he explained that more than 600 olive trees were cut and uprooted in the villages of Teshur (359 trees), and the Mastaba (242 trees).

The directorate claimed in its book that the cut trees "are old, large, perennial unproductive trees scattered in the orchards that have been cut down."

However, the loyal "Al-Watan" newspaper said that the process of uprooting olive trees began a month ago, "in the interest of brokers and traders, and stopped three days ago while continuing to transport the remaining uprooted trees in large trucks."

It quoted the people of the area that the trees were "sold to merchants for amounts ranging between 75 thousand and 150 thousand pounds per tree, according to the condition of the tree, while a ton of firewood in the land was sold for more than two hundred thousand pounds."

Source: pro-media