Returning home to Tal Rifaat, Syrians find ruins and rubble

Streets strewn with rubble and piles of ruins where their homes once stood.

This is what displaced residents are confronted with upon returning to their town of Tal Rifaat in northern Syria, a crucial battleground in the conflict between Syrian Kurdish fighters and Turkish armed groups.

During Syria’s war, Tal Rifaat became part of the repeated cycles of fighting and displacement that have played out since antigovernment protests erupted in the country in 2011.

Syrian Kurdish forces took control of the town in 2016, displacing most of its population. In other places, like the town of Afrin, Kurdish residents were displaced after Turkish-backed forces took control, and many fled to Tal Rifaat.

In December last year, during a lightning offensive by opposition fighters that led to the removal of President Bashar al-Assad, the tables were turned again as Turkish-backed forces seized Tal Rifaat from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.

Signs of hurried departures are visible everywhere — abandoned belongings, scattered debris, and makeshift barricades hastily dismantled.

Still, the people of Tal Rifaat say they are busy clearing the rubble and getting their lives back on track.