Ain Issa is one of the important centers in the North Syrian Euphrates region and has been under attack by the Turkish state and its jihadists for a long time. The city is located on the connecting road between Hesekê and Aleppo and is therefore of strategic importance. The occupying forces want to occupy the area and carry out attacks on residential areas every day.

In Ain Issa and its surroundings mainly Kurdish and Arab people live together. In the town there are about 1400 families. Due to the constant attacks, people are afraid of a return of the IS.

Ain Issa after 2011

After the start of the uprisings in Syria in 2011, the 93rd Brigade, controlled by the government in Damascus, spread fear and terror among the population of Ain Issa. The internal security was subject to the militias of the "Free Syrian Army" (FSA), now called the "Syrian National Army" (SNA) by the Turkish state. In the atmosphere of that time, many people in Ain Issa felt forced to leave the city. Especially after the bombing of a fuel depot by the Syrian Air Force on September 20, 2012, a large flight movement began.

In September 2012 Girê Spî (Tal Abyad) was occupied by the FSA. The FSA was able to push back the influence of the 93rd Brigade in Ain Issa and that of the 17th Division of the Syrian Army, but could not occupy the city. Instead, it plundered the wheat silo and a cotton warehouse in the vicinity of Ain Issa.

In Ain Issa chaos continued to reign. The militias closed the schools and used them as bases. When the IS appeared in Raqqa in 2013, the military presence of the 93rd Brigade and the 17th Division was over. The IS occupied Ain Issa and proceeded in a very cruel way.

The YPG and YPJ were able to liberate Ain Issa on June 23, 2016. After that, peace and security returned. The fugitives returned. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) cleared the war ruins and rebuilt the city. The supply of the population with basic needs was restored.

The Turkish invasion of Girê Spî and Serêkaniyê (Ras al-Ain) began on October 9, 2019. Since then, the attacks on Ain Issa have continued. During the daily artillery attacks, people from the civilian population are repeatedly injured or killed.

"The mercenaries must not come back"

The population is very worried that Ain Issa will be retaken by the IS or other Islamists. Marûf Şêx Salih, a resident of the city, explains: "The people of Ain Issa have experienced bad things after the beginning of the Syrian revolution. Today they are under attack by the Turkish state and its gangs. Russia presents itself as the guarantor of the ceasefire but does nothing at all to stop the attacks.”

Mihemed Muslim agrees with him: "The people here live together in peace and quiet. Nobody wants the mercenaries to come back into the city."