Photo by a friend from near Ras al-Ayn. Turkish F-16 jets are bombing. Turkish artillery is shelling Tel Abyad. Strikes on Ayn Issa in Raqqa governorate too. The U.S. is standing by. 
Very hard to get information out of Ras al-Ayn and Tel Abyad after Turkish cell networks (on which locals rely) stopped working. Friend who was now in Ras al-Ayn & left describes chaos & mass flight of civilians.
Friend who just left Ras al-Ayn, attacked by Turkey: "The bus garage was full of people sitting on the platform they want to go out. They have some clothes, diapers, medicine for their children.... There were jets all over the sky. We saw the aerial bombardment, 3 bombings."
Civilians flee Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê following Turkish airstrikes around the town. Utter panic all across border towns. Civilians are thinking of trying to flee to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq if the offensive expands.
Sources in Qamişlo and Dêrik confirm reports about Turkish airstrikes on the towns along the border, indicating the operation may possible expand much beyond Ras al-Ayn and Tel Abyad, driving even more civilians to flee.
Talking to a friend in Qamişlo, a professor at the Rojava University. He's a brilliant man, usually calm & collected. "The children are crying." After the city was bombed: "We are going to die soon. There is nothing harder than waiting for death."
I interviewed my friend under the name Shiyar. He learned Kurdish in secret as a child & was beaten repeatedly by a teacher for refusing to join the Baath Party. This was life for the Kurds under the Baath regime - racism, denial of basic rights
bit.ly/2pZcu1E
bit.ly/2pZcu1E
Civilians flee Tel Abyad as Turkish forces and Syrian factions backed by Turkey amass across the border ahead of a looming ground incursion
Sounds of explosions near the city of Qamişlo now, home to many Arab IDPs who fled to the city due to its relative stability.
Aftermath of Turkish strikes near Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ayn (Serê Kaniyê) in northeastern Syria today.
Reports: 3 civilians killed 9 injured as a result of Turkish shelling on the neighborhood of al-Bashiriya in Qamişlo city. Video shows one of the victims.
The neighborhood of al-Bashiriya is largely Assyrian, as are the injured and killed in the Turkish attack, which took place about an hour after this statement came out. The arm of A'ida, a woman injured in the attack.
Speaking to a friend now who fled Ras al-Ayn (Serê Kaniyê) "At 4 AM the Turks started shelling. Then airstrikes. They are bombing civilians, population centers. I just talked to my brother [in town]. They are still bombing. "
One of the civilians killed is Muhammad Hajj Qader
One of the civilians killed is Muhammad Hajj Qader
My friend, Narîman, fled Ras al-Ayn further south. She took her mother's medicine, a hard disk, a lap top. One of her brothers drove them. They stopped to take photos on the road.
Photos by her brother, Azad Evdikê
Photos by her brother, Azad Evdikê
The names of Syrians killed and injured on the first day of the Turkish operation on northeastern Syria
