A resident who recorded a video in a village in the rural areas of Kobanê stated that HTS-ISIS and Turkish affiliated militias are carrying out systematic looting and theft in the homes belonging to displaced Kurdish villagers.
The resident, whose name is not disclosed, said they are struggling to survive under siege conditions: “I want to explain what we are experiencing here. I want the whole world to hear and feel what we Kurds are going through. We are in one of the rural villages of Kobanê. After the siege, there is no bread, no water, no electricity, and no diesel. In mid-January, during the harshest days of winter, most of the population was forced to flee.”
Stating that armed factions entered residential areas after the villages were emptied, the resident said: “Soldiers affiliated with the Syrian state army entered villages where SDF forces and civilians were no longer present and looted our homes. They took our solar panels, electric cables, and refrigerators. Trucks are brought to villages around the M4 highway and loaded with belongings. They call their relatives in Girê Spî, Ain Issa, and Raqqa to come with vehicles and take the goods away. Vehicles belonging to civilians are also being confiscated.”
Noting that workplaces in the area are also being targeted, the resident said: “They emptied diesel storage tanks and looted shops by breaking down their doors. This plunder and theft is still ongoing. They claim they came to fight, but their real purpose is looting.”
Recalling that civilians were killed without cause, the resident added that now the homes left behind are being systematically looted: “Innocent civilians have been killed. Now they are looting our homes. They left nothing un-stolen and are about to destroy our houses as well. They claim to speak in the name of conscience and religion, but what they do has nothing to do with it. We are out in the cold, while they are stealing inside our homes.”
The resident remarked that there is no media presence in the area and what is happening cannot be documented, concluding: “Yesterday, my relatives, owners of homes, wanted to go back to their village. They were not even allowed to see their houses and were driven away. They talk about humanity, but what they are doing is nothing but plunder.”