9,500 flee homes in northeast Syria

At least 9,500 people have fled their homes in Ain Issa, northeast Syria, following an escalation in clashes between the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (TSNA) and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in mid-December.

The SDF – the military forces of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava – who control Ain Issa, report daily shelling on the city from Turkish-backed forces for the past week. The sound of fighting could be heard from sunset until Sunday noon.

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Ain Issa sits approximately 45km (28 miles) by road from Tel Abyad, a city flanking the Turkish border and captured in October 2019 during Ankara's Operation Peace Spring.

Operation Peace Spring was launched following the abrupt withdrawal of United States troops from Syria to secure a so-called safe-zone on Turkey's border by clearing the region of People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters.

The SDF is comprised of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey considers to be linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Labelled a "terrorist" organisation by Turkey, the US and the European Union, the PKK has waged an armed uprising against the Turkish state since the 1980s.

The Turkish government stated the safe-zone would span 32km (20 miles) deep from the Turkish border into Syria and 444km (276 miles) wide from the Euphrates River to Iraq in order to settle up to two million Syrian refugees currently hosted by Turkey.

The operation resulted in Turkey capturing the cities of Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ain near its border and controlling an area 20km deep into Syria.