Turkish offensive in northern Syria: flight into the unknown

Only when the earth quaked did Shiar Bakr-Awni decide to leave. His wife had been packing his bags since Tuesday, warning the three children that they might have to leave home. But Bakr-Awni waited until the last moment before fled with his family. "We did not know where to go," he says.

Bakr-Awni stands in an empty classroom that is now his home: stone floors, stained walls, a table that was recently used. Since today he lives with his family in this room. For how long, nobody knows.

The 24-year-old hails from Ras al-Ayn, a city on the Syrian-Turkish border. Since Wednesday afternoon, the Turkish army flies here air raids, ground troops have crossed the border. The offensive is directed against the Kurdish militia YPG, which controls a large area in northern Syria, on the border with Turkey. Ankara sees them as terrorists and wants to build a "security zone" in which the fighters have no influence.

But the battles also hit civilians. They have panicked the civilian population - and triggered a mass escape. It is estimated that 100,000 people were displaced from cities in the border area. Who could, fled to the interior. But not all have relatives or friends where they can stay.

Bakr-Awni says his family is from Ras al-Ayn. He does not know anyone in other cities. While many residents left the city on Tuesday, Bakr-Awni remained. "I was hoping the Americans would help us," he says. But nobody came. When he heard the first hits Wednesday, Bakr-Awni decided to leave.

They drove without destination, only gone

They squeezed on a motorcycle and drove off, with no destination, just away from the border. At some point it was getting dark, and when they thought they were far enough away, they spread a blanket in a field and went to sleep. This is how Bakr-Awni tells it.

The next morning he considered returning. "We thought maybe the war is over again." But when they saw the smoke in the distance, they knew they could not get back to their house. The family spent another night in the field before reaching the city of al-Hasakah on Friday. It is outside Turkey's "security zone", which is why many refugees have come here.

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The city government has provided schools where families sleep on thin mattresses. Everywhere in the building people are sitting on the floor, some have brought and set up cooking plates. But most arrived with only a few clothes. Even Bakr-Awni could hardly take anything.

Three of her children fought ISIS

One floor up, Amina Osman-Hawas has moved into a room with her family. The 45-year-old fled Tal Abyad, where Turkish troops had already positioned themselves at the beginning of the week. Osman-Hawas initially fled to a surrounding village on Tuesday, but the airstrikes of the Turkish army, she says, would have caught up with her. "Boom, boom," she calls to demonstrate the impact.

Osman-Hawas is near tears this Friday, two days after the beginning of the military offensive. The Americans have betrayed us! "She keeps shouting." They betrayed us! "Turkey's attack had become possible because the US had withdrawn its troops from the border area, with US forces still having close ties with the US It was only with their help that it was possible to smash the so-called "Islamic State".

Three of her children, Osman-Hawas, have fought against the Islamic State. Now they fight in the north of Syria against the Turkish troops. "The Americans only used us to get rid of IS," says Osman-Hawas. "Now leave us alone."

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When and if Osman-Hawas can return to her home is unclear. Ras al-Ayn and Tal Abyad are said to be surrounded by Turkish troops, but little information comes from the city. And even cities that are not directly in the "security corridor", are occasionally under attack. On Thursday afternoon, a boy named Mohammed died in the city of Kamischli when he briefly stepped onto the street: a shell had broken in front of the house. His sister Sarah, who was a little further away, lost a leg in the attack.

She lies in the hospital of Kamischli and does not know yet that her brother is dead. Her grandfather brought her her bear on Friday morning, now sits the 63-year-old at her bedside. "We hope the war will end soon," he says. "But we do not know when. Do you know it?"