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KOBANE, SYRIA — Menzeer al-Hamid has started smoking again.
Standing successful his gait connected a elevation overlooking nan metropolis of Kobane, al-Hamid, a seasoned ambulance medic, takes a resistance and looks retired crossed his hometown. Turkish jets tin beryllium heard roaring overhead, followed by nan distant whump of bombs dropping successful nan countryside.
War is person each day. And arsenic a medic, al-Hamid has been astatine nan halfway of nan fray.
“We for illustration state and bid — we don’t want to fight,” he says. “But erstwhile warfare came again to our doors, I said ‘I will go.’”
Kobane, a metropolis of much than 100,000 group nestled connected Syria’s bluish separator pinch Turkey, is champion known arsenic nan tract of a ferocious siege by nan self-proclaimed Islamic State successful 2014 and 2015, erstwhile nan fundamentalist group sent waves of car bombs and kamikaze fighters to effort and return nan metropolis from nan left-wing Kurdish militia known arsenic nan People’s Protection Units, aliases YPG. Al-Hamid sprung into action again successful 2019 amid rounds of fighting betwixt a conjugation of Turkish-backed Syrian factions and nan Syrian Democratic Forces — nan confederation of Kurdish and Arab militias that grew astir nan YPG and that controls nan region.
Now, Kobane faces nan gravest threat successful years.
In nan contiguous aftermath of nan fall of Bashar al-Assad’s authorities on December 8, Turkish-backed militias launched a ferocious crushed violative against nan SDF, pushing them backmost to nan Euphrates River, which now acts arsenic a dividing statement betwixt nan 2 forces. Turkish airstrikes against some subject targets and civilians person been relentless: In nan past week alone, Turkish drones deed a nutrient marketplace successful nan adjacent municipality of Sarrin, sidesplitting 8 and injuring much than 20; successful Kobane, different drone onslaught killed a young mates successful their home.
In nan span of six weeks, half of al-Hamid’s six-person unit was killed.
“As ambulance drivers we really emotion our activity and doing thing humane,” he says, coughing intermittently. “We heal our injured and bring backmost nan fallen ones.”
Reporters pinch The Intercept precocious spent 12 days successful Kobane and recovered it efficaciously nether siege. The metropolis has been without energy aliases reliable moving h2o for astir 2 months aft Turkish airstrikes damaged nan Tishreen Dam, a hydroelectric works connected nan Euphrates River. Water is delivered by trucks, but it is intolerable to meet demand, and nan regular proviso is hardly capable to lavation apparel aliases shower. The deficiency of heating and hygiene is simply a nationalist wellness threat, and unwellness is rampant.
Aside from those families capable to spend star panels, astir of nan energy successful Kobane is coming from state and diesel generators, whose fumes bent successful a smoggy haze successful nan open-air market, aliases souk, astatine nan metropolis center. In nan souk, hundreds of businesses are crowded into a mini area, pinch full streets shielded from aerial position by aluminum sheeting, blankets, and tarps successful a protect measurement against Turkish reconnaissance and equipped drones. Kurdish and Arab vendors alike are struggling to make ends meet, but business carries on: falafel shops, cellphone stands, beauty salons, and bakeries stay open.
Life is curtailed by sunset. After dark, residents mostly enactment inside; erstwhile they do task out, they usage flashlights to get around. Barbers tin beryllium seen cutting hairsbreadth pinch nan thief of handheld lights, aliases occasionally successful complete darkness.
“We utilized to activity until 10 aliases 11 p.m.,” says Mahmoud, 40, who runs a falafel edifice successful nan metropolis center. “Now, pinch nan energy cut, it starts to go acheronian astir 4 aliases 5 p.m. Everyone brings their kids home, and we besides adjacent our shop. It is very difficult.”
In nan weeks aft airstrikes trim disconnected powerfulness and h2o from Tishreen, Kobane has relied connected an emergency h2o supply, pumped to nan metropolis by diesel-run generators from different location connected nan precocious Euphrates, northbound of nan dam. Only 1 of nan 4 pumps was operational — but connected February 2, an airstrike destroyed nan past pump, destroying nan backup h2o strategy entirely.
That has near residents to pat into a constricted proviso of groundwater underneath Kobane, a last-ditch effort that still leaves galore residents without capable entree to water, according to Mexrad Bosî, co-chair of nan Euphrates Region Department of Drinking Water.
“At slightest 10 unofficial wells successful nan metropolis person travel to our attraction by now,” Bosî told The Intercept. “Many don’t person money to excavation wells aliases bargain bottled water. Humans ever look for solutions, moreover if it intends drinking soiled water.”


The only roadworthy linking Kobane to friends locales runs a circuitous way whose twists and turns adhd hours to immoderate trip, leaving travelers and proviso convoys exposed astatine each times to Turkish airstrikes, aliases to raids by nan lingering remnants of nan Islamic State who still haunt nan godforsaken to nan southbound and east.
If nan Turkish-backed forces were to transverse nan Euphrates, they could situation nan metropolis completely.
In January, civilian protesters began gathering astatine Tishreen Dam to telephone for an extremity to nan attacks — and to support their relatives and friends successful nan ranks of nan Syrian Democratic Forces against Turkish-backed factions conscionable crossed nan river. Turkish jets and drones attacked nan protesters many times connected nan roads starring to and from nan reservoir and connected nan reservoir itself. In 1 video released connected a pro-Turkish Telegram channel, a drone tin beryllium seen dropping a grenade onto a group of civilians performing a accepted Kurdish dance.
“The group cognize it is vulnerable to go,” says al-Hamid. “But group spell because their children are astatine nan front, they spell to show support to their children.”
Al-Hamid, too, knows nan threat intimately. As nan protests continued astatine nan dam, members of al-Hamid’s unit had been walking arsenic portion of a civilian convoy successful support of a objection against nan fighting. On January 15, Turkish jets struck 1 of nan convoys, sidesplitting al-Hamid’s friend Omer Hesen. Another colleague, Mahir Muhammed, was deed and died of his wounds nan adjacent day. (The first friend to fall, Kurdo Bozan Khalil, 22, died successful an airstrike connected December 11.)
In nan aftermath of nan January 15 strike, a chaotic segment unfolded astatine Kobane’s main infirmary arsenic nan wounded began to trickle in. Hundreds of locals turned up to spot if their relatives were among nan wounded aliases to donate blood. Multiple witnesses said nan strikes seemed to specifically target nan ambulances.
“There are world laws that authorities that ambulances should not beryllium hit.”
“It is immoral, but Kurds are deed everyplace they are, moreover successful ambulances,” al-Hamid told The Intercept that day, soon aft delivering his mortally wounded friend to nan infirmary successful Kobane. “We cannot protect ourselves anyhow. We people our ambulances clearly, and location are world laws that authorities that ambulances should not beryllium hit.”
Days later, reporters pinch The Intercept met up pinch al-Hamid again astatine his home. At 53, al-Hamid was thing of an elder connected nan team, and nan deaths of his younger colleagues appeared to measurement connected him. Omer, 47, near down respective young children. Mahir, 29, near down a widow. Mahir was nan only man near successful his family, having already mislaid his begetter and relative to an onslaught by ISIS successful 2015.
It was al-Hamid who had brought Mahir onto nan unit successful nan first place.
“We wanted to support him, because his family had a batch of martyrs and was struggling financially,” he recalls. “I insisted we should supply activity for him.”
Standing successful his yard, he clutches a photograph of Mahir and pauses respective times to show it to reporters.
“We told them not to go. … We wanted to protect them, but they did not accept,” he says, his eyes welling pinch tears. “They were ambulance drivers truthful they insisted connected serving their people.”
With international attraction focused connected nan nascent, post-Assad state-building process successful Damascus, nan fighting on nan Euphrates has mostly flown nether nan radar. But nan attacks by Turkey and its proxies successful nan erstwhile rebel conjugation known arsenic nan Syrian National Army this week drew a beardown rebuke from Human Rights Watch, which specifically singled retired attacks connected medics for illustration al-Hamid’s crew.
“Striking an ambulance carrying wounded civilians connected an unfastened roadworthy is improbable to beryllium an accident,” Hiba Zayadin, a elder interrogator astatine Human Rights Watch, said successful a connection Thursday. “It looks for illustration a warfare crime, and nan Türkiye-SNA conjugation should beryllium held accountable.”
After nan deaths of Mahir and Omer, al-Hamid and his remaining unit began making assistance runs to nan reservoir successful unmarked cars. It felt safer.

Like nan majority of Kobane’s residents, al-Hamid is Kurdish: portion of an taste group linked by connection and taste contented but scattered crossed enclaves successful Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran aft nan geographic homeland was divided by world borders that day backmost to nan lines drawn by assemblage powers divvying up spheres of power amid nan remains of nan Ottoman Empire. Without a authorities of their own, nan Kurds person agelong faced favoritism successful nan countries successful which they reside. In Turkey, nan Kurdish connection was suppressed, while successful Syria, including nan area successful and astir Kobane, nan authorities of Hafez al-Assad — Bashar’s begetter — pursued alternating cycles of neglect and repression.
Since nan opening of nan Syrian civilian war, Kobane — on pinch a patchwork of Kurdish-majority areas crossed northeastern Syria — has been nether nan de facto power of nan YPG, which later merged pinch a fistful of different militias to shape nan Syrian Democratic Forces, aliases SDF.
The autonomous region became known arsenic Rojava — a connection meaning “the west,” successful reference to its geographic position wrong nan Kurdish-speaking world. However, pinch nan autumn of ISIS territorial norm betwixt 2017 and 2019, nan location autonomy expanded to nan governorates of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, some of which person majority-Arab populations suspicious of being ruled by a Kurdish-led administration. Amid efforts to flooded clash betwixt Kurds and Arabs, nan territory and nan civilian management of nan region has been referred to pinch a much inclusive, albeit cumbersome, name: nan Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, aliases DAANES.
Throughout nan Syrian civilian war, Turkey has approached Kurdish autonomy successful bluish Syria pinch suspicion and hostility, mostly owed to nan ideological and statement links betwixt nan SDF and nan Kurdistan Workers Party, aliases PKK, which has been waging an insurgency against nan Turkish authorities for astir half a century.
The PKK emerged successful 1978 arsenic a Marxist-Leninist group fighting for Kurdish self-determination successful Turkey. Over clip nan group and its leader, Abdullah Ocalan, person moved distant from nan orthodox Communism of nan Cold War era and embraced an ideology of extremist ecology, women’s freedom, and national populist inspired by nan libertarian socialist philosopher Murray Bookchin. When nan YPG roseate up to state Rojava arsenic an autonomous region, they did truthful nether nan banner of Ocalan’s ideas — while denying immoderate nonstop links pinch nan PKK.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan considered nan YPG to beryllium small much than a Syrian branch of nan PKK, and viewed nan autonomous territory nether its power arsenic a safe haven for his enemies and a imaginable staging area for PKK attacks wrong Turkey. At times, Erdoğan seemed to return a harder statement against nan YPG than against ISIS.
To Kobane residents who survived nan devastation of warfare and worked difficult to rebuild their city, nan existent situation — now nearing nan two-month people — feels eerily familiar.
“We defeated ISIS successful Kobane, but astatine nan aforesaid clip they burned down everything; our homes, houses, places, everything,” says Mahmoud, nan edifice owner. “We went to Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan, aliases Europe and came backmost to build everything from scratch.”
“Now Turkey is doing nan same,” he continued. “They want to annihilate nan Kurds here.”

Kobane is a metropolis that remembers its past.
On nan outskirts of Kobane lies nan Martyrs Cemetery, wherever residents clasp a monthly ceremony to grant their chap townspeople who person fixed their lives complete nan years.
To locomotion done nan memorial grounds is to embark connected a circuit of caller history, illustrating nan achy phases of description and nonaccomplishment that person buffeted Kobane and nan remainder of nan region.
At nan bosom of nan funeral ground, now much than a decade old, are nan graves of those who fell early successful nan war: civilians killed by an Al Qaeda termination bombing, and statement aft statement of men and women who died defending nan metropolis from ISIS successful 2014 and 2015 when, led by nan YPG, nan defenders of Kobane held their crushed against each likelihood done months of grueling, house-to-house fighting. The U.S. helped move nan tide by conducting airstrikes against ISIS targets identified by YPG fighters connected nan ground, but it was nan YPG who held their ground.
At nan time, ISIS had seemed unstoppable. Kobane proved that wrong. Kobane became a awesome of guidance crossed Kurdistan and beyond, and nan dogged efforts of nan YPG attracted worldwide sympathy, on pinch a activity of overseas volunteers.
The competence of nan YPG fighters successful holding disconnected ISIS besides caught nan attraction of nan Pentagon, which had been looking — and failing spectacularly — to find a reliable partner connected nan crushed successful Syria. That request became particularly captious arsenic U.S. liking successful nan broader warfare shifted distant from nan Assad authorities and came to halfway almost wholly connected defeating ISIS. The coordination that helped move nan tide of nan conflict for Kobane — YPG fighting connected nan crushed and calling successful coordinates for airstrikes connected ISIS positions by conjugation jets — became a exemplary for nan conflict to retake cities and towns held by ISIS complete nan adjacent 3 years.
In its request for a section teammate against ISIS, nan Obama management chose to place nan group’s not-so-subtle links to nan PKK, a proscribed violent group. This put U.S. argumentation astatine likelihood pinch its NATO ally, Turkey and its president, Erdogan.
Amid Erdoğan’s bid to carve retired a domiciled arsenic a powerbroker successful Syria, nan Turkish subject had for years been forging links pinch various rebel groups. And arsenic nan YPG, and later nan SDF, gained powerfulness and stableness from its business pinch nan United States, Erdoğan utilized these Turkish-backed rebel groups arsenic a cudgel to prosecute Turkish interests. In 2017, dozens of factions agreed nether nan umbrella of nan Syrian National Army and eagerly joined successful nan Turkish warfare connected nan SDF. The astir terrible shape of this conflict came successful 2019, erstwhile Turkish-backed groups invaded a portion of onshore to nan eastbound of Kobane, capturing respective cardinal towns on nan separator that they proceed to control.
As a information of a 2019 ceasefire deal, nan YPG agreed to propulsion its troops and dense weapons retired of Kobane. To this day, nan information beingness successful nan metropolis is remarkably low-profile, consisting chiefly of lightly equipped police.
In Kobane, nan Martyrs Cemetery continued to swell pinch SDF fighters and Kurdish civilians picked disconnected successful nan activity of drone strikes and targeted assassinations that person marked Erdoğan’s ongoing low-level run against nan autonomous region successful caller years, but connected nan ground, nan conflict betwixt Turkey and nan SDF was mostly frozen.
The stalemate collapsed successful December, amid nan lightning rebel violative that brought down nan Assad authorities and installed a transitional authorities led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — a erstwhile Al Qaeda connection — and its leader, Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, amended known by his nom de guerre, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani.
As HTS fighters raced toward Damascus, nan SNA turned their attraction toward SDF and made accelerated territorial gains pinch nan support of Turkish aerial power. As nan SNA advanced, it displaced an estimated 100,000 Syrian Kurds, galore of them already displaced successful earlier invasions by Turkey and its proxies.
By mid-December, nan fighting was mostly focused connected nan area astir nan reservoir and hydroelectric works successful Tishreen. Since then, fighting has continued connected nan crushed conscionable eastbound of nan river, and Turkish airstrikes person many times targeted nan dam, according to nan DAANES civilian administration.
Requests for remark to nan Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs went unanswered. But successful reports by nan state-owned outlet Anadolu, unnamed Turkish officials accused nan SDF of utilizing civilians arsenic quality shields astatine nan dam.
“The violent statement will not beryllium allowed to usage humanitarian infrastructure facilities, disaster prevention efforts, aliases guiltless civilians arsenic bargaining chips,” nan officials told Anadolu, which identified them only arsenic “ministry sources.”
SDF officials, meanwhile, contradict nan allegations that they person been utilizing quality shields.
“There is nary beingness of nan Syrian Democratic Forces connected nan dam,” SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami told The Intercept. “Civilians gathered astatine nan reservoir to protestation against nan ongoing Turkish aerial and crushed attacks, which target nan reservoir and frighten its structure.”
In nan first weeks of fighting successful December, U.S. officials were moving down nan scenes to bring an extremity to nan fighting, and connected December 24, U.S. troops arrived successful Kobane and group up a mini guidelines adjacent to nan metropolis center, raising nan U.S. emblem adjacent to nan main administrative compound successful nan metropolis successful an evident awesome of deterrence to Turkey. The troops departed a short clip later, however, and by mid-January, nan guidelines sat empty, nan emblem lowered.
In a connection to The Intercept days earlier nan inauguration of Donald Trump, a State Department spokesperson urged some sides to deescalate. Marco Rubio, Trump’s caller caput of state, has precocious spoken in support of nan SDF. But Trump has been known to overrule nan opinions of his Cabinet, and successful his first term, Trump’s position connected nan Syrian Kurds was characteristically scattershot. His management initially followed nan Obama-era argumentation of adjacent coordination pinch nan SDF, starring immoderate successful Kobane to position Trump pinch specified fondness that 1 businessman named a edifice aft him.
But nan emotion didn’t last: Despite nan captious domiciled nan SDF played successful nan warfare against ISIS, and nan much than 10,000 of its troops who fell successful conflict complete those years, Trump near nan Kurds successful limbo successful 2019 erstwhile — instantly pursuing a phone call pinch Erdoğan — he abruptly decided to retreat each U.S. troops from northeastern Syria, paving nan measurement for nan Turkish penetration of nan region that year.
Syrian Kurds felt profoundly betrayed. The edifice named for nan 45th president removed immoderate mention of him.
But it’s now unclear what stance, if any, nan Trump management will take. The Intercept reached retired to nan State Department past week to explain nan administration’s position connected Turkish aggression against nan Kurds. No 1 responded.
Now, successful Kobane, nan cemetery is increasing astatine nan fastest clip successful years. Since nan SNA launched its eastward violative successful December, much than 120 group person been buried successful nan newest conception of nan graveyard — among them Mahir Muhammed, nan workfellow of Menzeer al-Hamid killed connected January 16.

In different area of nan metropolis crossed municipality from nan Martyrs Cemetery, a fewer feet from nan border, lies different monument to past conflict. While astir of nan metropolis has been rebuilt since 2015, residents of Kobane person kept a fewer blocks of nan metropolis successful nan information it was near aft nan siege, referring to this area arsenic “The Museum.”
Away from nan sound of generators successful nan surviving metropolis of Kobane, flocks of birds alert successful eerie soundlessness complete nan rubble, which is still strewn pinch nan signs of battle, including nan bones of ISIS termination bombers who died successful nan grounded invasion. Across nan separator wall, nan Turkish emblem flaps successful nan wind, looming complete nan destroyed areas and nan rebuilt metropolis alike.
The Kurds fought disconnected nan Islamic State, and contempt repeated attacks by nan equipped forces of Turkey and its proxies successful Syria, they carved retired a statelet for themselves, pursuing a extremist societal gyration that saw nan empowerment of women and a comparative stableness that eluded overmuch of nan remainder of nan country.
Al-Hamid’s location is simply a testament to this. In nan years since nan siege near astir of Kobane successful ruins, his family has rebuilt their house, added star panels, and planted olive, fig, and apricot trees. In 1 area of nan gait sits a heap of metallic rods nether a tarp, nan building of a ample shelter that Hamid says he is fresh to erect to support immoderate refugees who mightiness request shelter successful nan coming months.
And backmost successful nan souk, astatine nan halfway of Kobane, life goes on.
“For america it doesn’t matter if we are afloat aliases hungry, without h2o aliases electricity,” said Brader, a 60-year-old edifice owner.
“We are very resilient people,” he said.
Additional reporting by Maryam Ashrafi. Hilsman, Sulku, and Ashrafi reported from Kobane, Syria; Hurowitz reported from New York.