SYRIA: Residents of Bnay Roumta displaced in Tel Tamr demanded Russian forces intervene to return them to their villages
TEL TAMR, Syria – Russian government funded news agency Russia Today reported yesterday that a group of residents in the Khabur Valley town of Tel Tamr demanded to a Russian patrol that the displaced families from the surrounding countryside be allowed to return to their villages currently occupied by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA).
The SNA is a coalition of militias, some with extremist views, formed and funded by Turkey. Alongside Turkey, the SNA invaded the areas north of Tel Tamr in October 2019, displacing an estimated 300,000 people. Civilians who chose to remain behind have suffered routine harassment, theft, extortion, and worse.
On Saturday, a correspondent for Russia Today reported that about 30 women and 10 men from the village of Bnay Roumta (Tel Tawil) stopped a Russian patrol in Tel Tamr, northwest of Hasakah city. The people from Bnay Roumta asked the Russian forces to intervene to allow them to return to their village. The reporter added that the residents met with a Russian officer to discuss the issue.
“The Turkish-backed terrorist groups did not allow us to return to our fields and villages,” the residents told the Russian officer, who promised to find a solution to their problem.