As residents return, liberated Kobane stirs back to life

By Omar Kalo

KOBANE - Two months on since Kobane was liberated from Islamist militants, the people of this Kurdish city in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava)  bringing life back to the city, cleaning the streets, opening shops and even the first school.

“We want everyone to return here so that we bring back life to Kobane together,” said Omar Yousif, a pharmacist who has just reopened his business.

Others like him are removing piles of rubble from their destroyed shops and markets, some to retrieve anything that might help them rebuild their businesses.

“Look, nothing is left of my shop,” said Muhammad Ali, standing before his bombed out shop. “But I try to clean the place, and I am finding little pieces of goods.”

In some parts of the town that were spared the bombing and destruction of more than four months of fighting between Islamic State (ISIS) militants and Kurdish fighters, tradesmen who have reopened shops sell what little they have to local residents.

“We have nothing left,” said Darwesh Hamo, standing in the middle of his shop, which was left intact but is low on supplies. “Sometimes I get 10 customers, but I have to turn them away because I don’t have anything they need.”

In mid-September ISIS militants launched a massive attack and laid siege to the Kurdish city on the Turkish border, leading to the most brutal fight between the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the militants.

In 133 days of fighting most of Kobane was reduced to rubble, including the main post office and streets around the Grand Mosque.

The YPG, backed by a contingent of 150 Peshmerga soldiers and coalition airstrikes, drove the militants from the city in January and have since liberated scores of other villages 100 kilometers east of the city.

On Tuesday, local officials said they had had reopened the first school since liberation with 10 teachers and around 250 students.