Fatshimetrie relayed the latest events in Syria, highlighting the wave of mass displacements of Kurdish families fleeing Tel Rifaat, in the north of the province of Aleppo. These exoduses were triggered after the takeover of the region by rebels supported by Turkey, to the detriment of the Kurdish authorities supported by the United States. A sad observation of the precarious and chaotic situation prevailing in this region torn apart by clashes.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, mainly composed of Kurdish fighters, have largely decided to withdraw from Tel Rifaat, calling for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to leave the area safely, in convoys to Aleppo and then to the regions of northeastern Syria, which are predominantly Kurdish.
Among the Kurdish families who fled, some were from Afrin and had already been displaced by the Turkish incursion into northern Syria in 2018. The harrowing account of Walid Hasso, a displaced man from Tel Rifaat, reveals the distress and anger felt at the violence perpetrated by Turkish artillery and aircraft, who he likened to “filthy bandits”.
The figures given by Sheikhmus Ahmad, co-chair of the Agency for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Northeast Syria, reveal an alarming situation: more than 20,000 displaced families from Aleppo have been registered, while thousands more remain trapped in and around the region, facing agonizing uncertainty about their safety and future.
The story also evokes the lightning advance of the Syrian insurgents in Aleppo, tipping the city and its airport into the hands of the rebels, before continuing their offensive in a neighboring province. An advance that was made in a virtual absence of resistance from government troops, causing concern and desolation among the civilians caught up in this violent turmoil.
These images of mass displacement and territories in the grip of clashes tragically illustrate the cruel reality of the conflict in Syria, where the civilian population, already tested by years of war, finds itself once again at the heart of violence and forced displacement. A worrying situation that calls for collective awareness and concerted action to put an end to the suffering endured by so many innocent people in this wounded country.