AP PHOTOS: Syrians returning to the town of Tel Rifaat find homes in ruins and underground tunnels

TEL RIFAAT, Syria (AP) — The long anticipated return home for residents of the Syrian town of Tel Rifaat, displaced since 2014, has collided with a painful reality — scars of war, streets lined with rubble and ruins standing in place of their homes.

Years of fighting and military fortifications have left an unmistakable mark on the town, a key flashpoint in the conflict between Syrian Kurdish forces and Turkish-backed armed groups in northern Syria.

During Syria's civil war, Tel Rifaat became part of the repeated cycles of fighting and displacement that have played out since 2011.

Syrian Kurdish forces took control of the town in 2016, displacing most of its population. In other places, like the town of Afrin, Kurdish resident were displaced after Turkish-backed forces took control, and many fled to Tel Rifaat.

In December, during a lightning offensive by Syrian rebels that ousted President Bashar Assad, the tables were turned again as Turkish-backed rebels seized Tel Rifaat from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.

Those who have returned to Tel Rifaat since then were met with an unexpected discovery — a vast network of underground tunnels that local authorities say were dug during the time when the SDF controlled the area.

The network, built for military use, runs beneath homes, schools, and public buildings, weakening the structures on the ground above. Some walls have cracked and what remains lies on an unstable foundation, making reconstruction even more difficult and adding to the challenges of rebuilding the town.

Inside their homes, returning families met with further signs of loss.

Doors hang from broken hinges, walls are scarred by neglect, and rooms have been stripped of essentials — wiring, plumbing, even furniture. Nothing valuable has been left behind.

Signs of hurried departures are everywhere — abandoned belongings, scattered debris, and makeshift barricades hastily dismantled.

On the town's outskirts, a concrete wall, once a military barrier, cuts through parts of the town. Built by the SDF fighters as a defensive structure, it now stands an unwanted remnant of the past, blocking access to farmland.

Infrastructure is poor, with water and electricity networks barely functional.

Still, despite the destruction or perhaps because of it, the people of Tel Rifaat say they are busy clearing the rubble and getting their lives back on track.