Bodies line the ruins in fragile ‘ceasefire’
BE I RUT • A British volunteer with Syria’s Kurds on Friday described her “horrifying experience” of pulling victims of Turkish air strikes from rubble, as fighting continued along the Turkish- Syrian border despite a declared ceasefire.
Danielle Ellis had been part of a civilian convoy attempting to deliver aid to the border town of Ras al- Ayn when it came across corpses among ruins.
The convoy stopped before reaching the town after they were warned they were within the firing range of gunmen from the Syrian National Army, an opposition group that is fighting alongside Turkish forces.
“We passed a pile of rubble in the last village before Seri Kaniye (the Kurdish name for Ras al-ayn), part of it was still smouldering,” the 29-year-old told The Daily Telegraph by phone. “A few people decided to have a look. There were a lot of bodies. I counted 10, but there were other sites being worked on so there may have been more. It had been completely destroyed by air strikes. They were all adults, I’m pretty sure men but it was impossible to say for sure because they were in a pretty bad way.”
She said she also could not be sure whether they had been fighters with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or civilians.
“One of the bodies I pulled out had a gun embedded in it. It could have been military but also many picked up arms to fight Turkey,” said Ellis.
Both sides accused the other of violating the fiveday ceasefire. Ras al- Ayn seemed the test of the truce.
Before the deal’s announcement, Turkish-backed forces had encircled the town and fought fierce resistance. After a brief lull, artillery fire and ground clashes were reported.
Meanwhile, U. S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Friday that no U. S. troops will take part in enforcing the so- called safe zone in nor thern Syria and the United States “is continuing our deliberate withdrawal from northeastern Syria.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier on Friday said Turkey will set up a dozen observation posts across northeast Syria, insisting a planned “safe zone” will extend much further than U. S. officials said was covered under a fragile ceasefire deal.
IN 2016, DEFENCE MINISTER HARJIT SINGH SAJJAN COMMITTED $9.5 MILLION IN MILITARY AID TO KURDISTAN, INCLUDING RIFLES AND MORTARS. THE GOVERNMENT PROCURED THE WEAPONS, BUT THEY HAVE SAT IN A MONTREAL WAREHOUSE EVER SINCE.