Syrian tribal notable: Turkey aims to displace Ain Issa’s people
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – An Arab tribal figurehead from the countryside of Syria’s Hasakah said on Friday that the constant Turkish attacks on the town of Ain Issa, north of Raqqa, aims to displace civilians from their homes and lands.
Hamad Thanoun, a notable from the Bohason tribe in the town of Markada, expressed his fear that there were secret agreements between Turkey and Russia regarding the town’s fate.
Turkish forces and their affiliated armed opposition groups have been shelling Ain Issa and its surrounding villages for several months, causing casualties, including children, and damaging residents’ property.
Thanoun considers the Turkish attacks on the town a systematic violation of the ceasefire agreements with the US and Russia.
Turkey signed two ceasefire agreements with both the US and Russia in October 2019, which provided for the cessation of all combat operations and the conduct of joint patrols in the border area in northeastern Syria; however, Ain Issa is still witnessing constant shelling and targeting.
Ain Issa includes Syrian government posts and a Russian base that was established after understandings with SDF last year after the Turkish invasion of northern Syria’s Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad.
“The Turkish state and its affiliated armed opposition groups aim to occupy the city of Ain Issa,” Thanoun said.
On Wednesday, residents of Ain Issa demonstrated in front of the Russian base in the town to protest its failure to put an end to the repeated Turkish shelling of the area.
On the 24th of November, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that 18 militants of the opposition groups were killed during a recent attack on a village in Ain Issa countryside.