Afrini IDP family tell story of being under Turkish bombardment
Northern Aleppo countryside – North-Press Agency
Dejla Khalil
A photo of a 90-year-old man was carrying his one-year-old grandson amid the dust of the shelling on his house in Afrin countryside, while hiding with his family who were injured, has inspired many artists to paint their suffering.
Barakat’s family is one of those forcibly displaced families from their home due to the recent heavy shelling on the village since the 8th of this month.
Mohammed Barakat the old man lives with his daughter-in-law and his grandson’s family in the village of “Soganaka” in Afrin countryside, which is the dividing line between the areas controlled by the Turkish army and its armed opposition affiliates in the village of Kemar on one hand, and the Syrian government forces in Soganaka on the other.
Mohammed did not realize that the morning of the 8th of this month will be the beginning of his displacement journey when an artillery shell targeted his house, wounding four members of his family by shrapnel.
Muhammad took refuge in the village of Aqiba, about one kilometer from his village, to find himself in a small room after a long search which took days to find a shelter.
Mohammed told North-Press about the details of that day:
“We used to hear the sounds of permanent shelling on the village, but I did not expect that this time the shelling will target my house, my family was terribly panic, we tried to get out to a cave near the village, but we were forced to stay inside the house because of the heavy shelling.”
He added: “The shell fell on the center of the salon, which penetrated the roof above us and caused the collapse of the wall next to us, all the members of my family were injured by shrapnel as a result of the fall of the ceiling and the collapse of the wall,” he said.
“I didn’t realize what was happening around me due to the heavy smoke and dust amid the screams of women; then we escaped to hide inside the bathroom,” he added.
The grandfather recalled the moment when he embraced his one-year-old son’s grandson “Mirvan”, assuming he was dead. “He was hit by shrapnel in the top of his head when I carried him, I saw that he was breathing, and I thought that he was asleep in my lap and he didn’t die.”
The village was evacuated of its residents under the fears of being re-bombed again, forcing villagers to look for another place to live.
Barakat’s family is one of those families who had to leave their village where they grew up, to remain homeless for several days until they found a small room in a nearby village, the old man concludes, “I didn’t want to leave my village, but my children forced me to.”