The village of Umm al-Keif is located to the west of Tal Tamr district in al-Hasakah canton. It is one of the large villages on the lines of contact with the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries after their occupation of Serêkaniyê in October 2019.

After Turkey occupation, the village was exposed to constant bombardment by the occupation army and its mercenaries, and the people feared repeated crimes against them, as happened in 2013 when the village was bombed by government aircraft due to the presence of mercenary factions within the village. The mercenaries committed crimes against the people and forced them to leave the village.

The mercenaries displaced more than 200 families from the village

Speaking to ANHA, Hasan Al-Khader from the village explained that they were displaced more than ten months ago, saying: “There were more than 240 families in the village. Since the arrival of the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries to the outskirts of the village, only 40 families remained.”

Al-Khader continued: "Most of the people fled to the villages on the road to Al-Hasakah, and some of them went to the camp because of the indiscriminate and continuous bombing that we are exposed to. We are desperate of this situation."

Al-Khader indicated that dozens of homes were destroyed and dozens of civilians were wounded as a result of the indiscriminate shelling of the village from time to time.

We are afraid of a repetition of 2013 scenario

Al-Khader said: "In 2013, while the mercenaries seized the center of grain silos, the Syrian government jets bombed the village. As a result, the villagers rose up against the mercenaries and demanded that they leave it but the mercenaries shot unarmed civilians. Two girls lost their lives while several other civilians were injured.”

He explained that they are forced to stay in their homes to protect them, despite the state of fear from the indiscriminate shelling.

Part of my house was destroyed

For his part, Kamra Al-Hussein indicated that a number of the villagers had fled after the mercenaries arrived at the outskirts of the village.

In the same context, Saleh Al-Arna pointed out that: "The region was enjoying safety and stability, but with the arrival of mercenaries, we suffered from basic living necessities in addition to the loss of safety in the area."

Al-Arna stated that the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries entered the region in order to destroy it and plunder its wealth.