Frightened families living on front-lines in Tal-Tamr
Tal-Tamr – North-Press Agency
Dilsoz Yousef – Jindar Abdul Qader
The residents of the town of Abu-Rasin (Zargan), north of Tal-Tamr, live in constant fear of the unknown fate that awaits them. The shells whose sounds have become familiar to them, and that fell on the villages of the town previously did not target specific places, but rather fell randomly threatening them with death. Fatima, a resident of Abu-Rasin recounts her suffering about the difficulty of life in her town, which was calm before the arrival of the Turkish-backed armed opposition groups on its outskirts, which caused her to flee for weeks with her blind husband after the migration of her children into abroad, she said: "Life has become difficult; we are afraid, and wait for a release from suffering from Hod,”
Along the road between Tal-Tamr and Abu-Rasin, the Syrian border guards continue to fortify their positions with earthen barricades, after deploying in the area in agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces SDF under the Russian auspices. Fatima Hami lives with her blind husband and one of her children. She narrated the details of life within the small town, saying: "During the day, the situation is calm, but in the evenings we hear heavy sounds, thank God, everything is fine so far.”
As the clashes began, Fatima and her husband fled into Hasakah, then moved in many villages of her relatives until she returned home with a little calm in the area, adding: "although we are close to the front line, we prefer to stay rather than displacement, especially with the onset of winter.” Fatima pointed out that the Turkish-backed armed opposition groups stole everything in her daughter's house in the village of al-Arisha, even the windows and doors, indicating that they also could no longer go to their field in the village because of those armed groups taking over the village, she said: "They stole our farming machinery and our rural house!”
The Turkish military and its affiliated armed groups’ attacks caused the displacement of the people of the town, which was inhabited by 10 thousand people, while a few hundred civilians remain, which is noticeable when entering the town where most of the shops are closed.
Ahmed Jumaa, a shopkeeper on the main road said he was optimistic about the relative security in the town, saying: "The situation is good at the moment, but the fear still exists because the militants of the armed groups shell the populated areas from time to time, which gives relief to the displaced population to return again.”
Ahmed al-Saleh, who was displaced like others when the clashes erupted on the outskirts of the town, and returned again because of the difficult conditions in the schools that turned into shelters in Hasakah, said: "They call themselves the Free Army, and they are bombing populated areas, trying to displace the inhabitants of the area from their lands, they are trying to cause terror and fear!” He continued, "They claim that they came in the name of religion, but they are saboteurs and do not belong to Islam.”
Residents of Abu-Rasin are afraid of resuming fighting and joining their town in areas controlled by Turkish-backed armed groups, as happened in Sere-Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tal-Abyad (Gre-Spi), especially since the front line is only 4 km away from the center of the town.
Mohammed Khader, the mayor of the eastern neighborhood of the town, said: "The shelling is still going on, these militants are calling for the establishment of the safe zone, but all are lies, where after they came, the area turned into destruction and displacement," indicating that fear is the main cause of local people’s displacement and the non-return.