QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Assumedly, the family of Shadia should have repaired the roof of its mud-made house to prepare for the winter. However, the recent Turkish escalation in which a shell dropped nearby her house, made them postpone the process.
Shadia Hussein, 50, from the village of Mahmaqaya on the border with Turkey in east of Qamishli city, says they cannot take the risk to go on the roof, fearing Turkish bullets.
“We are shackled, everything is stopped. We do not know when we could be shelled and leave our house. We cannot lead a normal life and do our daily routines. Shelling perturbs us,” she said.
Last week, a shell fell behind the family’s house causing wide spread horror among villagers who left their houses and headed towards the city of Qamishli. However, they returned to their houses in a course of hours.
The recent Turkish escalation against northeast Syria perturbs locals in Qamishli city, especially those living near the Turkish border, and particularly after Turkey employed fighter jets in its attacks against the region.
Turkish artillery and aerial bombardment in the last week was the most violent against the region since the Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad military operation in October 2019. It targeted tens of posts and sites in northeast Syria. Though sporadically, shelling still goes on. Consequently, locals in the border areas left their homes avoding Turkish bullets and shells.
While northeast Syria is faced with a new Turkish military operation, it is hard for Hussein to leave her house and village which she has never left. “This is our village; we were born here and have lived here; where would we go if we were shelled?”
On November 27, a shell coming from the Turkish side of the border fell close to the village of Tel Fares in south of Himo village in west of Qamishli city.
Although it has been calm for the last two days, Dalal is still fearful. She is concerned that her house could be a target for the Turkish forces.
While sitting in front of her house in the village of Mahmayaya, Dalal Khalil, 45, says they were horrified last week when a Turkish shell fell on their village.
Dalal adds she is daunted by the prospect of a new Turkish military operation. “It is not easy to leave our houses behind.”
“We have spent all our lives building this house. In the case of any operation, we would go the city center. We cannot live far away from our village.”
On the Belt Road, opposite to the Turkish border, Abdul Ghani Mer’i, 58, accompanies the owner of a construction materials factory. They have stopped working and told workers not to attend owing to shelling.
Mer’i, an IDP from the city of Deir ez-Zor who has been living in Qamishli city for years. “We looked for a safer life for our children.” He is working as an accountant in a factory of building material.
“We do not know what to do in case Turkey launches a new military operation against the region; where could we go”?