Though he escaped ISIS, Mohammed was burnt by Turkish occupation’s phosphorus

It is not a paragraph in the study of extremism or terrorist violence, but a mini-seminar limited to a young boy who suffered from the hardships of war, on an arduous journey between different cities in search of a safe life to meet his little body white internationally prohibited phosphorus during the Turkish bombing of the city of Serekaniye/ Ras Al Ain.

From the horror of the battles in Kobani and Afrin to the white phosphorus in Serekaniye

The story of Muhammad who comes from the village of Qara Qawi 19 km west of Kobani city, and the 400-mile journey when ISIS attacked Kobani city in late 2014, the war that led him and his family to migrate towards Afrin, the far northwest of Syria to settle for more than two years, their stability in Afrin did not last.

In the winter of 2018, the Turkish ground assault on Afrin began, which was inhabited by more than half a million people, began to displace Mohamad’s family, like many thousands of families from Afrin canton. The family settled in Tafcho village south of Kobani city for more than 8 months, but the search for livelihood prompted people Mohammed to leave for Serekaniye / Ras Al Ain with the beginning of this year.

It was only months before the 13-year-old Muhammad and his family, consisting of his sister Janan, his two brothers Ahmad, Farzad, their mother Jihan and father Hamid, had to experience the attrocity of war where they moved.

Air and land bombing would not suffice Turkey, neither bringing thousands of mercenaries from terrorist factions in Syria in its attack on the border city, to use internationally prohibited weapons such as burning white phosphorus in the city.

Muhammad Hamid Muhammad was among those hit by the phosphorous shells used by the Turkish occupation in Serekaniye / Ras al-Ain in October 10, coinciding with resistance from the SDF that prevented Ankara-backed terrorist factions from taking control of neighborhoods on the northern outskirts of the city.

Uncertainty veils the position of international organizations on Turkey's use of phosphorus

Mohammed and a number of citizens were evacuated to a hospital in Tel Tamr district, south of Serekaniye. Photos widely circulated by media networks showed Mohammed's screams in pain as his body became burnt.

Western media reports, including international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have reported evidence of Turkish invading forces using internationally banned white phosphorus in their war on northern and eastern Syria. These allegations and reports have been ambiguous and have been kept secret.

Between the drowning of Alan and the cries of Muhammad; interests prevail over humanity

The file of the child Mohammed has come to the negotiating table to barter and complete the interests of the conflicting forces in Syria, like other similar files that have shaken the world conscience, but were silenced and lost on the tables of countries in international forums.

How similar is today to yesterday! Mohammed's body burdened by burns is not much different from that of Alan, a three-year-old Kurdish child who is overwhelmed by the sea that drowned him and hundreds of Syrians fleeing the war on the shores of Turkey and Greece.

Between the suffering of the war in the country and the suffering of asylum and drowning in the seas Turkey seeks to benefit as much as possible from the blood of the Syrians and build its empires amid international tolerance over its violations based on regional and international interests with Ankara, to start the story of Mohammed and Alan and end in the fog of international forums, but remain entrenched in the memory of the people of the region.

J.O

ANHA