38,000 Syrians return home to Jarabulus from Turkey
Tens of thousands of Syrians who had taken refuge in Turkey, returned to their home in Jarabulus
- World
- Published Date: 12:00 | 11 May 2017
- Modified Date: 03:35 | 11 May 2017
Nearly 38,000 Syrians have returned to Jarabulus in northern Syria since it was liberated from Daesh, a local migration official said Thursday.
The town, which lies just across the Turkish border, has seen residents flock back since the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) captured it in August of last year.
An official at the Gaziantep migration office in southern Turkey, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said the Syrian returnees -- including women and children -- were brought to Jarabulus after undergoing security checks at the Karkamis customs gate in Gaziantep.
An average of 200 people a day have been returning to Jarabulus from Turkey, the official added.
FSA fighters on the border have been helping civilians transferred to Jarabulus and 37,949 civilians have reportedly returned to date.
Operation Euphrates Shield, which began in late August of last year, was aimed at eliminating the terrorist threat along the Turkish border with the use of the FSA, backed by Turkish artillery and air cover.
Since the civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, Jarabulus had been controlled by Daesh and intermittently by the PKK/PYD terrorist group.