Kobani residents protect water station with their bodies

The people of Kobani headed to the water station in the village of Shuyukh Foqani after turning their bodies into human shields to protect the technical teams working to rehabilitate the station, in response to the ongoing shelling by the Turkish occupation state.

The Shuyukh Foqani station went out of service on February 1st, after being directly targeted by Turkish warplanes, which led to its complete destruction and the suspension of water supply to more than 200,000 people in Kobani and its countryside.

Despite repeated efforts by technical teams to repair it, the Turkish occupation continued to target them, especially on May 13th, when medium weapons were used to prevent them from reaching the station.

This prompted the people to form a human chain to protect the technical teams, affirming that defending water and electricity is a collective responsibility and that they are ready to risk their lives to protect their people's gains.

Zuzan Khalil, the co-chair of the Water Directorate in the Euphrates Canton, explained that this station is vital for Kobani and serves more than 50 villages, with nearly 200,000 people relying on it.

She added that the Turkish occupation targeted the site with warplanes on February 1st and completely destroyed the station. She said, "It took us about 15 days of work to try to repair it, but the attacks hindered our efforts. Despite this, we managed to resume water pumping thanks to our people's resilience."

Zuzan Khalil confirmed, "Their resistance in the Tishrin Dam and the villages was for life, for water and electricity. Our success is their success."

We will protect ourselves from attacks

Citizen Amina Sheikho explained: "We protected the station with our bodies. We went there despite the shelling. To protect water and electricity, we will continue to defend with our bodies." She added, "The world sees these attacks, but it remains silent."

Ahmed Oso, the co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Council in Kobani, noted that "the people of Kobani and its villages turned their bodies into human shields to enable the technical teams to repair the station and resume water pumping. This is a strong response to the enemy’s attacks. We are always here and will remain. Just as we triumphed in the past, we will always prevail."

The Station sustained heavy damage

For his part, Mahmoud Sheikh Mohammed, a worker in the technical teams, said: “The water station sustained severe damage due to the shelling,” but he confirmed, “Thanks to the people's resistance, we repaired the station and successfully resumed water pumping.”

A-H

ANHA