- Title: Residents of Ras Al Ain stuck in war-torn border town
- Date: 24th October 2019
- Summary: RAS AL AIN, SYRIA (OCTOBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) EMPTY STREETS OF RAS AL AIN / GANTRY ROAD SIGN WITH BULLET HOLES READING (Arabic and Kurdish): "Whoever wants life needs to fight for it, and war needs trust and faith" VARIOUS OF EMPTY STREETS AND DAMAGED BUILDINGS MAN WITH MOTORCYCLE BY HOSPITAL HOSPITAL EXTERIOR / SIGN READING (Arabic and Kurdish): "Roj Hospital" BURNT OUT CARS AND SHUTTERED SHOPS IN MARKET AREA CLOSED SHOPS BURNT OUT CAR JUNK OUTSIDE ABANDONED BUILDING VARIOUS OF CARS ABANDONED IN STREET SEWING MACHINE AND TAILORING MATERIALS INSIDE ABANDONED SHOP VARIOUS OF BOOKS AND FAMILY PHOTOS ON SHELF IN HOUSE OVERTURNED CART IN EMPTY STREET MAN WALKING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RAS AL AIN RESIDENT, SABAH ATTAR, SAYING: "We stayed. We stayed in our house. Thank god, thank god." RAS AL AIN RESIDENT, SALAH ATTAR, DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RAS AL AIN RESIDENT, SALAH ATTAR, SAYING: "We could not leave. The strikes were right above us, and we could not leave. We were forced to stay. If we were allowed to leave, we would have left. But we were unable to. The strikes were right above us, and we could not leave." ATTAR WALKING INTO HOUSE
- Embargoed: 7th November 2019 13:46
- Keywords: Syria Security Politics Turkey Ras Al Ain war Kurds
- Location: RAS AL AIN, SYRIA
- City: RAS AL AIN, SYRIA
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2GIFRB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The few remaining residents of the war-torn border town of Ras Al Ain in Syria said they were unable to leave as violence fighting trapped them in their homes.
Earlier this month, Turkish forces launched an offensive on northeastern Syria, including Ras Al Ain, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his forces were withdrawing from the area, giving Ankara more room to pursue its Kurdish enemy without the risk of clashing directly with the Americans.
Ras Al Ain now resembles a ghost town, with shuttered shops and abandoned cars lining the empty streets.
Most of the residents have fled, many displaced at crossings like Semalka until they are eventually allowed into Iraqi Kurdistan. But some say the conflict forced them to stay.
According to the United Nations, more than 176,000 have fled their homes since Turkey launched its cross-border offensive. Some 80,000 children alone have been uprooted, U.N. officials said.
Only around 7,100 Syrian Kurds have made it over the border to neighbouring Iraq; the rest are stuck mostly in Kurdish-run Syrian towns like Hasakah.
(Production: Aboud Hamam, Nadeen Ebrahim, Rosalind Church) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None