ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Mohammed Hamid, 13, who was severely burned in a suspected illegal incendiary weapons attack by Turkey on October 22, has returned to the Kurdistan Region after receiving medical treatment in France.
Hamid was left with burns to 70 percent of his body following an attack on the Rojava 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.
“I am in good health. Thank God, my health is better now than it was before. I hope it gets better so I can go outside,” he told Rudaw from hospital.
Local medical officials have accused Turkey of using unconventional and banned weapons in the battle - allegations Ankara 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.
Reporting by Mahdi Faraj
