DAMASCUS (Ruptly) — Residents of the town of Tal Abyad on the northern Syrian border with Turkey took flight on Wednesday, as a Turkish military operation began in the region.

Earlier on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the beginning of the operation to create a “safe zone” cleared of US-backed Kurdish groups, which Ankara labels “terrorists”.

Vehicles can be seen filling up with people and driving along emptied streets in the north Syrian town.

“We were in Ein Arous [village in Tal Abyad district], five projectiles were shot at us, one of them came in front of my house. What wrong have we done? We left Ein Arous, we are passing through checkpoints, we want to leave. What does Erdogan want from us? What right does he have here?” said one local man.