For days, Tel Rifat, as well as surrounding towns – including several IDP camps – and the still self-governing areas of the city of Afrin further west, have been besieged by the so-called SNA. Hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom are displaced persons from Afrîn, are trapped. The Turkish-backed, equipped and controlled Islamist militia force launched its own invasion to occupy the city of Tel Rifat in the shadow of the terrorist organisation Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's (HTS) offensive on Aleppo. The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been calling the city the first target of Turkey's next campaign in northern Syria since 2022.

The Afrin and Shehba People's Council issued an urgent statement to the public opinion, reporting that they have decided to leave the area but vowed to continue their struggle just as they endured all the difficult conditions during the past years in tents and in the open.

The statement released on Monday said: "The Turkish state and its mercenaries attacked the area of Tel Rifat and Shehba. During these 2 days, the Afrin Liberation Forces put up great resistance in order to protect us. In order not to expose our people to massacres and not to kill innocent people, we decided of our own free will to leave the area that was surrounded by mercenaries of the Turkish state.

We would like to emphasize that our departure from the Shehba area does not mean that we have dispensed with our struggle for the liberation of Afrin, but that just as we endured all the difficult conditions during the past years in tents and in the open, from now on as well, our struggle will continue stronger. We will do our best to liberate our land and homes from the occupiers. We would like to extend our thanks and gratitude to the Afrin Liberation Forces who protected us until the last moment and made sacrifices in order for us to live in safety and dignity.”

Meanwhile, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continue to work to establish a humanitarian corridor to ensure the evacuation of the people of Shehba to other areas in the autonomous region of North and East Syria. However, as the attacks by the self-proclaimed SNA in the region continue, the escape corridor has been severed. In some regions, communication lines have been cut. Human rights organisations fear a massacre of the Kurds in Tel Rifat. Videos are circulating on social media showing SNA mercenaries abducting Kurdish civilians, including women.