ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish family from Afrin has spent years displaced, moving from one frontline to another across northern Syria, with each of their children born in a different city. Most recently, they fled Aleppo’s Kurdish neighborhoods to Qamishli in northeast Syria (Rojava) after deadly clashes between Damascus-affiliated forces and Kurdish fighters.
Rangin Mahmoud’s children were born in Afrin, Aleppo, Shahba, and Raqqa - a trail that reflects the family’s displacement since they were first uprooted from Afrin in 2018, when the city fell to Turkish-backed forces.
“I was hospitalized at the Khalid al-Fajr Hospital in Aleppo. There were many civilians - we had all gathered there,” Rangin told Rudaw.
Syrian Arab Army forces and affiliated armed groups attacked the Kurdish neighborhoods of Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsoud in northern Aleppo, displacing an estimated 150,000 people, according to war monitors.
“Yes, [we were all injured.] We were under heavy bombardment. We stayed at the hospital for a couple of days while the shelling continued. Some people died due to a lack of medicine. We left the hospital at night after buses were provided to evacuate us. My daughter was still in my womb when I was injured. We moved to Raqqa and stayed there for three to five days. She was born there. After another three or four days, we left and headed to Qamishli,” Rangin said.
The Afrin family’s youngest daughter, Deniz, was born during the latest round of fighting. While fleeing the Aleppo clashes, Rangin was wounded in a drone strike when shrapnel struck her chest. Despite her injuries, she reached a hospital, where doctors removed the shrapnel.