Sheikhmous Ahmed, head of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) office for the displaced and refugees, told Rudaw English that initially 100,000 people from Shahba arrived in Kurdish-held Tabqa town in Raqqa province, adding that the number has increased to nearly 120,000.
“We do not know the exact number because many have not been registered,” he elaborated.
Turkey-backed opposition militia groups launched an offensive against the SDF in the northwestern region of Shahba late last month, controlling it days later. Both sides reached an unannounced deal to allow the safe movement of people to other Kurdish-held areas, mainly Tabqa.
Most of these people hail from the Kurdish city of Afrin which was controlled by the same militia groups and Ankara in 2018. International organizations have recorded numerous human rights violations in Afrin since then.
Around 50,000 of the displaced people remain in Tabqa while the rest have been transferred to makeshift camps, mosques and schools in other Kurdish-held areas, according to Ahmed.
Tal Rifaat, the main town in the Shahba area, was a longtime target of Turkey who sought to seize the strategic town from Kurdish forces on the grounds that the forces are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - which has been at war with Ankara for decades.
