Syria Kurd families flee to Iraq as array of armies advance

Berdarch: With an array of armies zeroing in on their homes since Turkey launched an offensive on northern Syria, Kurdish families have been joining fellow Kurds across the border in Iraq to escape rockets and bombardment.
Rosine Omar, 28, reached the safety of Berdarch camp in autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan from the flashpoint town of Ras al-Ain, a key target of the assault on Kurdish-held northeast Syria that Ankara launched on October 9.
“In Ras al-Ain, the situation was unbearable. We heard rocket fire and were worried the situation would get even worse,” she said.
Apart from the immediate dangers of a conflict that has killed dozens of civilians, Omar feared the advance of not only Turkish forces but also of Ankara-backed Syrian rebels and government troops.
“We also were scared the Islamic State (group) or the Free Army (of Syrian rebels) would occupy our town, so we preferred to leave because we had to get our children out of this war,” Omar said.
From the early hours of Turkey’s third offensive against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia in northeast Syria, Zoueida, her husband and their children fled Ras al-Ain.