City of spies
Despite driving out IS, Kurds have been left exposed amid power struggle as terror group regains footing
THROUGH war-ravaged streets, life ebbs and flows with a veneer of normality, but espionage and mortal danger are never far away.
Covert enemies – from Turkey, Bashar al-Assad’s feared Syrian regime, as well as Islamic State sleeper cells – abound in the city of Qamishli, north-east Syria.
Here, the largely Kurdish statelet of Rojava had briefly carved out a semiautonomous peace after local forces backed by the West drove out IS.
But in 2019, US President Donald Trump betrayed the people by suddenly withdrawing his troops, forcing the Kurds to turn to Russia and Assad for protection from Turkish invaders.
After helping to get rid of IS on behalf of nations such as Britain, locals wonder why the West has left them in such a crisis – and warn it may affect the UK.
One said: “We’re desperate. Nobody knows what will happen to us next.”
Driving into Qamishli – Rojava’s main city, near the Turkish border – we pass a large Russian military troop convoy.
Our driver picks a route bypassing Assad regime checkpoints, muttering that if we are caught our feet might not touch the ground before we reach a jail in the Syrian capital Damascus.
VIOLENCE
A Westerner lifted from these streets by Assad’s troops or spies would possibly never be seen again.
An American war tourist took a wrong turn here last year and was tortured for months in the regime’s prisons before being released.
But despite locals awaiting the next onslaught, the alleys and bazaars of Qamishli are bursting with shoppers.
The people have become resilient after nine years of violence.
In the past week, IS fighters have emerged from the shadows in Syria and murdered as many as 70 people, including civilians.
We are told that at night Syrian Democratic Forces – the Kurdish-led alliance trained by Britain and the US to beat IS – raid cells, seizing or killing agents from the various threats.
At a Qamishli bazaar, men play cards solemnly and families shop for food as security men with AK-47 rifles watch us, and become irritated by our presence, waving us on as we try to chat to locals.
Two busloads of Assad’s military intelligence officers drive past, eying shoppers from behind curtained windows.
As we duck into an alleyway, barber
Foreign Minister Dr Omar talking to Mirrorman Chris about IS
Mohammed Mirzah, 76, says: “The threat first comes from Turkey, then IS and then the regime. All of us are very nervous of what will happen next.
“There are so many flags here it is terrifying – Russian troops, the Syrian regime... and IS is never far away even though they were supposed to be beaten. We want to get on with our lives.”
Most of his nine children have fled for Europe, leaving him with just his youngest, Alan, 19, to help with the business. The tension here is palpable. IS car bombs blew up these streets a year ago, killing and injuring many. Some locals
bear the scars of war – such as awful facial wounds and missing limbs.
Toy shop owner Khaled Sheikhmuss, 50, says: “We are desperate as the economy is bad and the security situation is not good, as you can see.
“Nobody knows what will happen to us next. We have to keep surviving.”
We can no longer visit a restaurant popular with journalists last year. It is now too full of Assad’s spooks, officers from the Turkish MIT intelligence agency, and Russia’s military intelligence wing the GRU, which launched the novichok attack in Salisbury.
The spies are trading threats and seeking leverage. Added to the mix are local mafia bosses trying to get in on the turf war. Trump’s withdrawal of US troops from the region effectively gave the green light for Turkish forces to roll over the border.
Turke y ki l l ed hundreds of Syrians and displaced hundreds of thousands more.
The Ame r i c a n betrayal put paid to years of efforts to help this region recover.
It allowed IS to surge again, and there are fears Turkey will further o v e r run Rojava , swa l l o w i n g up Qamishli, to buffer its territory against the
SDF. Britain owes Rojava a huge debt after the SDF ended the IS stranglehold on the region, ousting them from Raqqa, where many attacks on Europe were plotted.
Years of British troops training the SDF have largely been undone by Trump’s action. People here hope Presidentelect Joe Biden will plug the security gap.
Rojava’s Foreign Minister Dr Abdulkarim Omar fears for the statelet’s population of five million and says Turkey used IS as a proxy to hit Rojava’s mostly Kurdish forces. Blaming Britain and the US – whose special forces have largely withdrawn south – he says: “This is the fault of the coalition and Trump’s decision.
“We have played a major role in this region in defeating IS but there are many IS sleeper cells here. They are capable of getting into the UK as well.
“The UK needs to co-ordinate with us to find a solution. If this region is not made stable IS will rise up again.”
Further south, IS has already risen up, launching daily bomb attacks and assassinations on the SDF who feel abandoned by the West. They nervously wait to see if the US will withdraw troops completely, leaving
Rojava to turn entirely to Russia and Assad for help against Turkey.
An SDF commander told us: “Our special forces are attacking IS, Turkish and regime sleeper cells every night, trying to hold them back.
“But we also have to accept the open presence of the regime to keep Turkey at bay. We are pulled in every direction, yet we still have to fight IS.
“We are the front line against IS – if we were not, they would be all over European places like Britain even more than they are now.
“Tell people in Britain what is happening here. We aren’t just fighting for ourselves... it matters to you too.”
We are the front line against IS – without us they’d be all over Britain
SDF COMMANDER ON THEIR BATTLE IN SYRIA
If one of your new year resolutions was to eat less meat and dairy, or even cut them out altogether, you’re not alone. Hundreds of thousands of people take part in Veganuary each January, and this year is no exception.
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What Vegans Eat, by Brett Cobley (£16.99, HarperCollins). Follow Brett on Instagram @epivegan