Assyrians concerned as Turkish-backed armed groups closing in on their villages
Tal Tamr – North-Press Agency
Delsoz Yousef
About 15 km north-west of the town of Tal Tamr, north-eastern Syria, Mansour, a resident of the village of Tal Tawil crosses in front of a military checkpoint of “Khabour Guard Forces”, an Assyrian military force defending the Christian villages in the area.
Mansour is concerned about the repetition of the scenario that was carried out by the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS) in 2015 against his fellow citizens, after the Turkish military and its armed groups have reached the outskirts of his village.
The few remaining Assyrian families in al-Khabour Basin in the western countryside of Hasakah fear about their fate, despite the relative calmness that prevails in the area after the Turkish attacks were suspended on October 23 by an agreement between Russia and Turkey, that stipulated the conduct of joint patrols near the Syrian-Turkish borders.
A village free of women and children
Mansour told North-Press that after his village has become a front line, the number of the remaining civilians and Christian soldiers in the village is approximately about 40 individuals, pointing out that the village is empty of women and children for fears of a possible Turkish attack. He said: "The terrorists targeted the village with some missiles, causing the destruction of a number of houses," adding that the fact that Turkey’s backed armed groups remained in the area, they are very afraid of repeating the scenario which was carried out by ISIS in February 2015, of displacement, killings and kidnappings.
"We don't know our destiny"
Returning to the village of Tal Jumaa, some 4 km to the north, the elderly Khushaba Ibrahim calls God while carrying the sacred Bible inside the village church, in order to protect his fellow citizens from any harm, especially since his village is only a few kilometers away from the front line. Ibrahim showed that their village, which was inhabited by 3,000 thousand people before the Syrian crisis, left only with a few dozen now, saying: "We do not know what will happen to us later.”
He added: "We are afraid of being attacked, therefore most of the women and children of the village have left to the town of Tal Tamr and the city of Hasakah, so that we can escape in the event of any possible Turkish attack.”
The Assyrian citizen, who suffers from hearing impaired talks about the economic damage they suffered after the recent attacks, saying: "In Ras al-Ain countryside we have cultivated about 20 thousand dunums of land, but Turkey and the terrorists seized it.”
Ibrahim added that they own nearly 3,000 dunums in the outskirt of the village, but they are not able to cultivate them, "because we are targeted by these terrorists," he said.
The leader of Khabour Guard Council, Nabil Wardah confirmed that they continue to protect their villages from threats in light of the gradual return of life, stressing on the fear of the Assyrians from displacement.
The countryside of the town of Tal Tamr includes about 33 villages with an Assyrian majority, which were attacked by ISIS in February 2015.
ISIS terrorist group kidnapped hundreds of Assyrian civilians and took them into unknown destinations, after which an agreement was reached between the Christian parties and ISIS, mediated by the elders of Arab tribes in the region to release them by paying a financial ransom.