Comme de nombreux agriculteurs du nord-est de la Syrie, Nizar al-Awwad ne peut plus irriguer ses terres à partir d'une rivière proche noircie par le pétrole, qui s'écoule selon les responsables locaux d'installations visées par des frappes turques.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Like many farmers in north-east Syria, Nizar Al-Awad can no longer irrigate his land
00:04 from a river near Noorsi by oil, which flows according to the local authorities
00:09 of the facilities targeted by Turkish strikes.
00:11 All farmers in the region have stopped irrigating their fields with the water from the river,
00:16 says this 30-year-old man, from a village in the province of Hasakeh.
00:20 "Using polluted water would kill our land," adds the farmer with a carefully shaven beard.
00:26 Farmers are already suffering from a lack of fuel and drought.
00:30 "The pollution of the river has only made the situation worse," says Mr. Awad in front
00:35 of his wheat fields.
00:36 In Syria at war since 2011, the fighting has sometimes ravaged oil infrastructure,
00:43 targeting the convoys of the various belligerents.
00:44 The region where Nizar Al-Awad lives, under the control of the Kurdish Autonomous Administration,
00:50 was targeted in January by Turkish aviation strikes, which have targeted refineries
00:53 and other oil facilities.
00:55 Turkey had launched strikes against the Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq and Syria in mid-January,
01:01 after the death of nine Turkish soldiers in an attack on a Turkish military base in northern
01:05 Iraq.
01:06 Oil drips.
01:07 Since then, residents of the province of Hasakeh have declared to the AFP that they have noticed
01:13 black oil stains on the Al-Rad river, flowing from the Kabour, which crosses a large part
01:17 of northeast Syria.
01:19 AFP correspondents have also seen oil drips polluting the water and banks of the river
01:23 over a distance of 55 km in the Hasakeh region.
01:27 Mohamed Al-Aswad, who co-presides over the Kurdish Autonomous Administration's Office
01:31 for Water, told AFP that Turkish bombings have damaged oil facilities
01:36 and oil wells.
01:37 According to him, the damage particularly affects the Rmelane region, with its vast oil fields.
01:42 Oil leaks could threaten river biodiversity if they reach a dam along the Kabour river,
01:49 Al-Aswad was concerned.
01:51 Rudimentary row nets, installed by the Kurdish Autonomous Administration, have not
01:56 so far managed to contain oil leaks and protect farmers' lands.
02:00 Supported by American troops on site, the Kurds control Syria's most important oil
02:05 fields, which are the main source of income for their autonomous administration.
02:10 While waiting for oil infrastructure to be repaired, authorities advise farmers
02:16 to let the cattle drink polluted water.
02:18 Ibrahim Almouf said, "A 50-year-old farmer has stopped irrigating his crops with this
02:24 polluted water for two weeks.
02:25 Sheep cannot drink from the river, said the man with the red cap, stick in his hand, expressing
02:31 his concern about a possible contamination of fish.
02:34 These oil leaks are due to the farmers already affected by nearly 13 years of a war that
02:39 plunged the country into a suffocating economic crisis and the consequences of global warming.
02:44 "I just hope it will continue to rain so that we are not forced to irrigate our lands
02:49 with the water of the river," said Ibrahim Almouf.