“Each time this town gets back on its feet a new faction turns it into rubble,” says Ali, a 35-year-old agricultural engineer. “We are tired of war.”
In Manbij, in northern Syria, war-weariness seems to prevail over politics.
Most residents long for stability after witnessing various groups wage fierce battles for control of the town since the start of Syrian civil war.
In 2012, rebel groups drove out security forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
Two years later, the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) seized control.
And in 2016, the town was captured by a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Now, Manbij finds itself in the crosshairs once again.
The Turkish government has long threatened to launch an assault to force the Kurdish militia that dominates the SDF – the People's Protection Units (YPG) – to withdraw from the predominantly Arab town and move east of the River Euphrates.
Ankara considers the YPG an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),…
