Civilians left trapped
Turkish offensive into Syria could turn into protracted standoff with Kurdish forces
BEIRUT — One-month-old Heyim Hassan was receiving treatment for a chest infection in the Afrin general hospital in northern Syria when a shell landed a few metres away. His panicked father whisked him out of the building and spent hours looking for nebulizers to aid the infant’s breathing. No one was killed in the attack, but nearly 30 children had to be evacuated to safety.
It was the third time Heyim’s father, Serbest Hassan, had to seek shelter for his family in the past month. Four days after the baby was born, Turkey launched an offensive in northwestern Syria, forcing them to flee their home and Hassan’s mobile phone shop to find safety in the district’s centre.
Nearly a month into the offensive in Afrin, hundreds of thousands of Syrians like Hassan and his family are hiding from bombs and airstrikes in caves and basements, trapped in the Kurdish enclave while Turkey and its allies are bogged down in fierce ground battles against formidable opponents.
Crammed with 40 relatives into their new shelter, a three-bedroom apartment, the baby Heyim contracted the infection. Then the new neighbourhood also got shelled while he was evacuated from the hospital.
“This is how it is in Afrin. It is not just me,” Hassan said in a series of messages to The Associated Press from inside Afrin, encircled and under attack since Jan. 20.
A slow-moving ground offensive, the assault on Afrin threatens to become a protracted standoff, deepening an already dire humanitarian situation. It could also prove costly for Turkey, diplomatically and militarily. So far, nearly 80 civilians in Afrin, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and 31 Turkish soldiers have been killed. Seven civilians were killed in rocket attacks launched from Afrin on Turkish border towns.
A senior Turkish government official said that Turkey pays the “utmost attention” to civilian safety, and accused the Kurdish fighters of wearing civilian clothing to hide among locals, preventing civilians from leaving Afrin and even using some as human shields — a charge denied by the Kurdish fighters.
Turkey launched its offensive with more than 70 aircraft. Airstrikes were followed by a ground assault in which an estimated 10,000 allied Syrian rebel fighters took part, backed by Turkish artillery and other troops.
Fighting on six fronts, the Turkey-backed troops have met stiff resistance from the Kurdish People’s Defence Units, known as the YPG.
Turkish officials have made conflicting statements about the goals of the offensive, but have said they seek to push the Kurdish militia away from its borders.
The Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Ankara “periodically” provides information to NATO and the UN about the operation, insisting it is “not political” but aims to secure Turkey’s borders.
The Kurdish fighters form the backbone of the U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighting Islamic State group militants in eastern Syria, but are viewed by Turkey as an extension of its own insurgents, the Kurdistan Workers Party or the PKK.
Although Afrin is encircled from all sides by Turkey, the guerrilla fighters — with years to prepare for the defence of their 3,885-sq. km district — have proven a challenge.
They targeted Turkish tanks and bases and claimed to have downed at least one helicopter. Eleven soldiers were killed in one day last week. The weather and geography have also slowed down the offensive, with fog and rain grounding jets and obstructing ground advances as fighters grappled with the mountainous terrain.
The YPG says 98 of its fighters have been killed. But the Observatory puts the toll at more than 160, and estimates that more than 200 Turkey-backed Syrian fighters have been killed. YPG commanders hinted they could open new fronts against Turkey.
“We are in the first phase of the battle now,” said YPG commander Sipan Hemo. “This strategic battle will not end ... until we teach the Turkish occupation the right lessons, and they withdraw to their borders.”