Abu Rasayn, ghost town in northeastern Syria after Turkish bombings
Hakif Barkhadan of the Abu Rasayn town hall in front of the school complex bombed by the Turks.
© RFI/Murielle Paradon
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Turkey continues to bombard northern Syria.
Even if the strikes are less intense than at the start of their operation launched at the end of November, the Syrian population is paying the consequences.
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With our special correspondents in Abu Rasayn
,
Murielle Paradon
and
Julien Boileau
Hakif Barkhadan shows us around a ghost town.
He works in the municipality of Abu Rasayn, a town located one kilometer from the front line, deserted by the population who fled the Turkish bombardments of recent weeks.
In the streets, a lot of destruction of houses and public buildings.
“
There, it is the town hall which was destroyed, it was nevertheless at the service of the civilian population!
You see there, these are the impacts of shrapnel.
Fortunately, there were no casualties, but when the building was bombed 10 days ago, there were employees inside.
What the Turks want is to push the civilians out of town.
That's why they're waging this war.
»
The threat of an even bigger Turkish operation
On the other side of the street, the school complex has also been bombarded, gaping holes are strewn on the ground and the buildings are riddled with impacts: “
The Turks want to destroy the Kurdish culture and language.
They don't want this language to be widespread, but we will make sure to continue.
It doesn't matter if they destroy our premises, we will rebuild others!
»
The few inhabitants who remain in Abu Rasayn live under the threat of a larger Turkish operation, but Hakif Barkhadan wants to be confident: “
We will resist,
he says
, whatever it costs.
»
►
To read also:
in Syria, thousands of Kurds demonstrate against the Turkish strikes
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Syria
Kurds
Turkey
Recep Tayyip Erdogan