-America's Syrian Kurdish allies played a key role
in defeating the Islamic State's territorial Caliphate,
but now they face another threat,
this time, from the north, just days after President Trump
announced on October 6th that the United States
would be pulling troops out of Northern Syria.
-A senior Turkish official says an assault is imminent.
-Turkey's president has announced
his invasion of Northern Syria has begun.
-In Northern Syria, the Kurds have set up
an autonomous region they call Rojava.
Turkey views the Syrian Kurdish fighters as terrorists,
allied with the Kurdistan Workers' Party,
a militant group inside Turkey
fighting a decades-long insurgency
against the Turkish state.
In recent months, the threat of a Turkish invasion
loomed over Rojava residents.
Turkey says it wants to create a safe zone in Northern Syria
where Kurdish-led forces are in control.
But officials and security analysts
warn the consequences of an invasive land campaign
could be disastrous.
It could fracture the Kurdish fighting forces,
displace hundreds of thousands of people,
and potentially give rise to an Islamic State resurgence.
-We took care of ISIS. We captured 100%.
Remember, I was thinking, John, of leaving.
-The Kurds are responsible for approximately 90,000
displaced by the war against ISIS,
many of whom are Islamic State fighters and family members.
They are held in prisons and internment camps
where Kurdish military commanders have warned
of increasingly violent behavior.
Outside experts have cautioned
that large-scale Turkish operation
could worsen the security breakdowns
at the prisons and camps
holding Islamic States militants and supporters.
More than 12,000 members of the Syrian Democratic Forces,
the coalition of Kurdish-led militias,
were killed in the campaign against the Islamic State.
[ Indistinct talking ]
Signs of ISIS still remain across the region,
from deserted homes to destroyed minarets.
ISIS wives and children
are brought to hospitals for treatment.
There are designated rooms for them.
Prior to the invasion, many Syrian Kurds said
they had grown accustomed to living with conflict.
Many
cities sit close to the border with Turkey,
from Qamishli, the base of the Kurdish administration,
Turkish apartment buildings and military guard towers
are visible in the background.
In August, concrete tunnels can be seen being built
along the border to prepare for a possible attack by Turkey.
But following an August agreement
between the United States and Turkey,
the US Military said Kurds were destroying fortifications
along the border as a trust-building measure.
An underground medical facility was being set up
by the Kurdish Red Crescent in preparation
for the military assault by Turkey.
Soon, the threat might not just be from Turkey and ISIS.
Without US support, the Kurds also fear they could soon
be facing a battle with Iranian or Russian-backed units
aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
-I will tell you. I will stay here
because if I want to escape, before five years,
I can't go walking to Turkey and go to Europe,
but I not for that thing.
I will stay here.
If Turkey come or not, I will stay here.
I am a civil man.
I don't like gun, but I will stay here
because I love my land.