ALEPPO — Operation Peace Spring, the Turkish military offensive launched Oct. 9 into northern Syria, displaced thousands of civilians from Tell Abyad, in Raqqa province. After the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) National Army (NA) took control of Tell Abyad, on Oct. 13, displaced residents began returning to their homes, with fighting between the FSA/NA and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (PYD) limited to the countryside. Turkish organizations, including the Turkish Red Crescent and the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, provided relief and medical assistance.

A burst of violence on Nov. 2 shook a downtown market in Tell Abyad when a car bomb exploded, killing at least 16 people and wounding 20. Tell Abyad, strategically located in the center of the border with Turkey in northeastern Syria, had been one of Turkey's main targets during the invasion. No group claimed responsibility for the bomb attack. 

FSA media coordinator Yahya Mayo, told Al-Monitor, “The victims are civilians. They are sidewalk vendors, shoppers and shopkeepers. They are poor. The cause of the high death toll is because citizens who were displaced when Operation Peace Spring was launched started to return since Oct. 13. Those who were behind the attack do not want the NA to succeed in managing Tell Abyad, so they are carrying out terrorist attacks to scare civilians.”

Wael al-Hamdo, head of Tell Abyad’s local council, remarked to Al-Monitor, “We will cooperate with the NA to secure Tell Abyad by erecting checkpoints. We are responsible for protecting people’s lives.”