DERIK, Syria (North Press) – Amid an astonishment and disapproval, Khanah Saadun raises the question about the reason for the US-led Global Coalition’s silence on the targeting of her beloved son, Muhammad Shibli, who was working as a coordinator with the Coalition.
“My son worked with the Coalition and led many operations. He was targeted in front of his house by a Turkish drone”, Saadun, Shibli’s mother, in an interview with North Press, said.
The mother wonders, “If he was working with the Coalition, why did not it protect him? They did not even offer an assistance despite the risks to him. He was targeted before and injured.
Shibli participated in several battles against the Islamic State (ISIS). Since 2014, he has worked in the operations and coordination room with the Coalition as part of the joint efforts by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to pursue ISIS cells in northeast Syria, according to the source.
On Oct.27, Shibli, who worked as a coordinator between the SDF and the Coalition, was killed in a Turkish drone strike while he was in his house in the city of Derik (al-Malikiyah), far northeast Syria.
The strike also resulted in the injury of an 11-year-old child and 39-year-old woman.
“We want an end to the Turkish strikes. How long will these drones stay hovering over us?” the mother lamented the loss of her young son.
Avin Abdo, Shibli’s wife, recalled that day which began with joy and ended in sorrow.
Simple Dreams
What Abdo feared happened and caution could not change the fate. “Our dreams were very simple, just going out once together outside the city. But flights of Turkish drones always worried us, fearing for my husband”, she told North Press.
“In the early morning, we had breakfast as a happy family, in a rare and strange scene with Shibli at the table. We used to his absence due to his duties in leading military trainings with the Coalition,” she added.
Muhyi al-Din Kherqi, SDF Commander, told North Press in Shibli’s funeral that Turkey targeted him earlier last year, but he survived and continued his duties in defending the region.
Due to his previous injury, Shibli suffered health problems, according to his wife.
After having breakfast with his family, he went out to the courtyard and within a few minutes, the family that was inside the house heard a powerful and close bombing.
“I rushed out to see my husband lying dead on the ground. Two children from the neighborhood and a woman in her thirties were also injured,” Abdo said.
Shibli left behind three children, in addition to his wife, mother, and father. “He was very close to his children,” the wife mentioned.
Loss of Twins
Also, the father felt sorrow and pain of separation because he lost his twins. He lost his son Ali in 2014 during battles against militants in Derik. Just days ago, he was consoled for the loss of his son Shibli, who is the twin brother of Ali.
“It is shameful and treacherous to target a person in front of his house and among his children. It should hit a tank or a military base, not an individual in such a cowardly manner. There is nothing more heinous than this act,” Shibli’s father told North Press.