Kurdish child severely burned by suspected Turkish use of white phosphorus now in a stable condition

29-12-2019 2 Comments
Zhelwan Z. Wali
Zhelwan Z. Wali @ZhelwanWali
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A child who suffered severe burns from the suspected illegal use of incendiary weapons by Turkey during its bomardment of northeast Syria is now in a stable condition thanks to treatment he is receiving in France, his father told Rudaw on Saturday.

Mohammed Hamid, 13, was left with burns to 70 percent of his body following an attack on the town of Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain) on October 18, amid fierce fighting between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkish-backed Syrian militias. 

Hamid was taken to the Kurdistan Region on October 22, then flown to France for treatment the next day.

"He is still receiving treatment," his father told Rudaw. "From what we have been told by the physicians, the danger to his life has decreased by 70 percent."

"We do not know how long are we going to stay in France. It is decision vested in the French government," he said, adding that his family would prefer him to stay in France "because he still needs to be attended to."

Mohammed's uncle agreed it would be best for him to remain in France.

"My nephew needs to seek asylum to stay for a longer time," Musa Kino said. "For safety reasons, we would prefer for Mohammed and his father to stay in France. We hope the relevant authorities will help in this regard."

Local medical officials have accused Turkey of using unconventional and banned weapons in the battle - allegations Turkey has denied. Dozens of civilians, including several children, have been left severely injured following the reported use of the incendiary chemical in Turkey’s offensive in northern Syria, which began on October 9. 


The UN Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) launched an investigation into the suspected chemical attack on Kurdish civilians, although many have speculated that Turkey is to blame. 

The use of white phosphorus, commonly used to create smokescreens, is permitted under several treaties. However, its use on civilians is banned by the Geneva Protocol and the Chemical Weapons Convention. 

On October 6, following a phone call with the Turkish President, US President Donald Trump announced that the US would not prevent a long-planned Turkish operation into Kurdish-controlled territories into northeast Syria.

Turkey's "Operation Peace Spring" offensive was formally launched on October 9, with the stated aim of clearing the border of Kurdish forces and resettling approximately 3 million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey in the area. Kurds have said this amounts to forced demographic change.

Scores of civilians have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced as a result of the operation. 


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  • 29-12-2019
    Troll Alert
    Hama in one post you claim to be a Kurd in others you go crazy when fahts about Turkeys brutality are revealed by the media or when your neo Sultan is criticized. Neither pkk or ypg have ever targeted civilians and you know it, and neither have taken responsibility for the bombing you mention, a Islamist group has. Pkk and Ypg had no airforce so you can't blame them for civilian death when the coalition used their airforce to drive out your beloved jihadi hero's ISIS. You spread Turkish jihadi propaganda like it was peanuts on every article on Rudaw
  • 29-12-2019
    Hama
    Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the THOUSANDS of children killed by PKK and coalition and TENS OF THOUSANDS injured. Just couple days ago PKK detonated a bomb in the middle of one of the two main towns captured by Turkey and Syrian allies, killing 9 civilians including children. Most of the children who died or were injured in Raqqa, Manbij, Beghouz had nowhere to go to even ask for help. I remember the interview Rudaw made with one of the Burma Rangers during battle of Beghouz. He explained how a group of civilians ran up to him with a child whose intestines were hanging outside her body. She had been targeted by PKK like thousands of other children and died soon after. Even during transport to refugee-camps, PKK would just throw entire families inside lorries with no emergency aid provided and not even blankets. Hundreds of children and weak elderly died during transport alone. Even today in al-Hol 340 children have starved to death or died of simple diseased because of the horrible conditions PKK is keeping them in. Ofcourse the children themselves don't care if it's PKK or Turkey who killed or hurt them, and in Syria PKK and America have done this to a MUCH higher extent than the Turks. For every civilian killed or injured by Turkey and Syrian allies the numbers show that PKK and America killed or injured 15 times as many, NOT even including hundreds killed during transport or in the camps. These are the facts and they don't care about anyone's biased perception.