Tel Tamir, Syria<\/p>\n Since the beginning of the Turkish\/Free Syrian Army (FSA) attacks\u00a0in northeastern Syria, drones have been used to attack\u00a0the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),\u00a0civilians, ambulances, and medical convoys.\u00a0FBR vehicles have\u00a0also come under attack from drones and Zau Seng, our Kachin medic\/videographer,\u00a0was killed\u00a0when\u00a0a drone strike\u00a0<\/span>hit seven meters behind us on Nov. 3.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The missiles fired from these Turkish drones and their capabilities are on par with\u00a0<\/span>U.S.<\/span>\u00a0Predator drones\u00a0and have been terrorizing the skies since the attacks began in October. Highly effective weapons,\u00a0they\u00a0fly constantly\u00a0in support\u00a0of the Free Syrian Army,\u00a0Turkey\u2019s\u00a0proxy force. One round from a drone obliterated a Humvee, shattering the vehicle and killing everyone inside it.\u00a0Five\u00a0ambulances have been hit by drones. The SDF and other groups have no defenses against the drones. For us, these drones have often stymied or slowed our rescue attempts to the extent that people have died before we could get to them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So far, we\u2019ve been able to help recover 90 bodies and help treat and\/or rescue 160 wounded. Those numbers are small compared to those of Tel Tamir\u00a0<\/span>H<\/span>ospital which has seen\u00a0over\u00a01,000 people wounded and over 200 killed, half of which have been from drone strikes.<\/span><\/p>\n Despite the drone attacks, we continue to help as we can by providing medical and rescue support. The fighting on Nov. 11 included constant mortars and drones from the Turkish\/FSA forces and Turkish tanks. We helped treat some wounded by drone strikes and also treated\u00a0one Christian militia member who had been hit by shrapnel from a Turkish tank.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One of the last men we treated, an SDF soldier, told us about a drone strike that hit about four kilometers from where we had picked him up. Earlier that day, he was a part of a group of six men\u00a0who had gone to recon the enemy\u00a0and ended up in a freshly plowed field with the enemy on a hill above them, directing heavy machine gun fire down on the group. About 700\u00a0<\/span>meters<\/span>\u00a0away from the enemy, the men were hit by a drone strike. He wasn\u2019t sure if his friends were dead or if they were still alive out there.<\/span><\/p>\n We prayed and talked about going out to try and find his friends. We talked to his commander who said to wait until the drones overhead had passed and so we did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n W<\/span>e got to the abandoned village\u00a0<\/span>at the edge of the field the man had told us about<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0found both Syrian Army and SDF troops who were trying to stop the Turkish tanks with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).\u00a0We saw the two dead bodies and realized that recovering them would bring us to within\u00a0400\u00a0<\/span>meters<\/span>\u00a0of\u00a0the enemy in open fields. The enemy\u2019s hilltop position, along with their machine guns, cannons, and drones would slaughter us.\u00a0We couldn\u2019t see anyone living but the soldier told us it was possible.<\/span><\/p>\n We stopped and prayed again. I asked the Syrian commander about waiting until it was dark to attempt the\u00a0recovery of the bodies. He said, \u201cWell, it looks impossible, but the only possible way is dark.\u201d We decided to go under the cover of darkness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our team included myself;\u00a0DTAK, our Karen videographer;\u00a0Joseph,\u00a0our Karen medic;\u00a0Adam, a volunteer;\u00a0Mohammad, our coordinator;\u00a0a brave Kurdish medic from the KRC who had been living in Sweden;\u00a0and the SDF soldier who knew the area where the attack had happened.<\/span><\/p>\n We waited until the beginning of sunset, when it was dark enough to move slowly without being seen but still light enough to use our naked eyes.\u00a0I could only see one body before it grew too dark and I had to use night vision to find the other bodies.<\/span><\/p>\n When we reached the bodies we found that two had been incinerated by a drone strike. One man was missing his upper torso and his head and the body of another man was mangled and badly burned. We could see the drone that hit them and it had Turkish markings on it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After finding those two men\u00a0who had died, we continued looking for the other three. Our SDF friend started calling out the name of one of his friends as we moved forward quietly, getting closer to the enemy. Fortunately,\u00a0the moon hadn\u2019t come up yet\u00a0and\u00a0it was still dark.\u00a0Carefully, we moved through the open fields. That\u2019s when we heard a call back saying, \u201cIs it you? Is it you?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We reached the missing friend of the SDF soldier and found that\u00a0he was wounded\u00a0but\u00a0still able to walk. He had spent the entire day hiding in a furrow in the field, pretending he was dead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Eventually, we found two more,\u00a0both of whom\u00a0were wounded but ambulatory. We got all of them out, but one man shook us off,\u00a0saying that even though he was wounded he\u00a0wanted to go back and keep fighting. I tried to stop him but couldn\u2019t. He disappeared into the night.<\/span><\/p>\n Joseph treated the other two men and we put them in the ambulance along with the dead bodies. We drove out quietly, without lights. Right when we turned the corner that put us out of the direct line of enemy fire,\u00a0a near-full\u00a0moon came up, lighting up the entire area.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Wow<\/i>, I thought.\u00a0Thank you, Lord, for that window of opportunity between sunset\u00a0and moonrise to get these people out.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.freeburmarangers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_5023.jpg\")
![\"Turkish](\"https:\/\/www.freeburmarangers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_4355.jpg\")
![\"Part](\"https:\/\/www.freeburmarangers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_3857.jpg\")
\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n
![\"Helping](\"https:\/\/www.freeburmarangers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_5838.jpg\")
A Window of Opportunity for Rescues
\n<\/span><\/h3>\n![\"One](\"https:\/\/www.freeburmarangers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_5025.jpg\")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.freeburmarangers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_5024.jpg\")