THE WAR CLOSES IN ON PEOPLE OF AFRIN
Families take refuge in Kurdish town to escape assault by Turkish and Syrian rebel forces on border villages
Day and night, the members of seven displaced families file in and out of the single bathroom and kitchen they share in a cramped flat in the Syrian town of Afrin.
Dozens of families have flooded the town to escape a three-week assault by Turkey and allied Syrian rebels on towns and villages along the border.
Among them is Amuna Hassan’s family.
“We sleep sitting up. What kind of sleep is that? How are we supposed to fit? Can you imagine anything worse than that?” says the elderly Ms Hassan, a cigarette in hand.
“Maybe a bomb will go off and we’ll all just die together.”
Ms Hassan, her children, and their families fled Jandairis, a border town south-west of Afrin, when Turkish bombardment of the area increased.
“We fled under fire. It was raining, people were crying and screaming. We fled from death,” she says.
They settled in a small flat with half-a-dozen other families. Behind her, women and children in bright, patterned clothes sat on a row of cushions.
A baby wailed uncontrollably as an elderly man lay splayed out on a mattress, unperturbed by the chaos.
“The bathroom doesn’t work. We haven’t bathed in 20 days, but we just want food to eat – you think we’re thinking about showers?” Ms Hassan says.
“Hungry, thirsty, at least we were at home. Now look where we are – all these people in just three rooms.”
Turkey and allied Syrian rebels launched their offensive on January 20 to fight the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a terrorist group.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor says nearly 70 civilians have died in the assault, despite Turkey’s claims that it is doing everything in its power to prevent civilian casualties.
Most of the bombardment has hit border towns and villages, forcing residents to flee inland to the town of Afrin and board up with relatives.
The United Nations estimates that between 15,000 and 30,000 people have been displaced by the Turkish-led offensive to other parts of Afrin district.
Local authorities have sealed off access routes to other parts of Syria, the UN said.
Abdel Haj Ahmad and his 12-member family left everything behind in their native village of Sheikh Mohamed, north-west of Afrin town.
“It was tragic. There were no cars on the road, so we walked with our bags until we found a car willing to drive us,” the 49-year-old says.
Once in Afrin, they settled in a relative’s modest flat – overflowing with other displaced families.
“We’re nine families. Nearly 40 people sharing one kitchen and one bathroom. Can you imagine?” Mr Ahmad says.
“It’s the first time we understand what displaced life is.”
Overnight, the number of people in Naziliya Balo’s household tripled.
“My uncle’s family was displaced and they came to stay with us. Three families from Qarnah,” a village north of Afrin, says the 28-year-old.
Her 10-member family is now hosting another 20 guests.
“We’re helping each other out. They can’t give us much,” Ms Balo says. “We’re happy that they came to us, but it’s so sad that they had to leave their houses and come here.”
As the Turkish-led offensive heads into its fourth week, Ms Balo says all of Afrin’s residents should mobilise to help those displaced.
“There are a lot of tragedies and I get really sad about them. We’ll open our house to everyone. Whoever’s in need, we’ll help them.”
More than six million people in Syria have been displaced internally since civil war erupted in 2011, many more than once.
Abdin Kashad, 30, fled the border village of Qura Baba with his five family members.
“There was artillery fire so we went to the town of Rajo, then they hit Rajo with air strikes so we came to Afrin,” he says.
Mr Kashad is happy to be safe in Afrin, but he and dozens of other displaced are packed into a single apartment.
Shoes of all sizes are piled up at the door and lines of washing criss-cross the courtyard.
“There’s no bathroom here or anything, no place for the kids to play,” Mr Kashad says. “We just want the bombing to stop so we can go home.”