MANBIJ, Syria (North Press) – Hussein fears going to his land to oversee his crops due to Turkish shelling and the presence of Turkish snipers who might kill him at any given moment. His land is located on contact lines separating the Manbij Military Council (MMC), affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), from the Turkish forces and their affiliated opposition factions, also known as the Syrian National Army (SNA).
Hussein al-Musa, 47, from the village of Qara Weran in northwest Manbij, said he wants to go to his field every day, but that he is held back by his fear of SNA attacks.
Frequent Turkish attacks prevent farmers of villages located on contact lines from approaching their lands to harvest their crops.
Al-Musa owns about 12 Hectares of land in the village but only cultivated three of them. He could not sow all of it for fear of shells that might burn the entire production and cause him significant losses.
Ali al-Mahmoud, 56, from the village of al-Sayada in north Manbij, said that most residents of the village chose not to cultivate their lands this year, fearing indiscriminate Turkish shelling that did not spare them or their crops in previous years.
The shelling aggravates the suffering of these people when harvesting their crops, forcing them to stop cultivation.
Whenever al-Mahmoud hears the sound of shelling, he is haunted by constant fear for his crops, which is the main source of income for him and his children. He said he took the risk of cultivating the land because he had no choice.
He sowed three out of seven hectares of land. He hopes the harvest season will end without any trouble and that he would not suffer losses that could make life harder for him, especially amid the difficult economic conditions in the region.
Those farmers complain about the continuous and indiscriminate Turkish shelling against their villages, which puts their lives and production at risk.
Jumaa al-Khalaf faces many challenges in finding a combine harvester to reap his crops since his land is located near a village that abuts a Turkish post.
Al-Khalaf, 39, from the village of al-Yalni in northwest Manbij, said that from the first day of planting the land, he worried he might lose it. It wears him down to think how he will harvest the crops at the end of the season as harvester owners refuse to work in lands near contact lines.
He told North Press that the expenses of cultivation have grown beyond their capacity. They harvest their crops by hiring daily workers, who demand high wages, as very few workers agree to work in such risky environment.
On May 2, a civilian from the village of al-Awshariya in northern Manbij was killed by a sniper stationed in the Turkish post near the village while working on his land.