SDF says Turkey tried to kill local Kurdish-Syrian official, violating ceasefire agreements

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, on Sunday announced on Twitter that Turkey earlier this week had attempted to assassinate a local defense official near Ain al-Issa.

During the attack, the driver of the senior defense official was killed and one of the passengers was injured. 

Abdi did not specify how the official was targeted. However, it is most likely that a Turkish drone was involved in the assassination.

Initially, Ain al-Issa was the de-facto capital of the Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria (AANES.) After Turkey intervened in northern Syria in October 2019, the AANES moved its headquarters to Raqqa.

The senior SDF leader called the attack a “flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreements of October 17 and 22.”

After the Turkish invasion into northeast Syria, Russia and the US reached separate ceasefire deals with Ankara, which allowed Turkish troops to control the area between Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain (Serikaniye.) 

“We call on the guarantors of the Istanbul and Sochi agreements to carry out their duties and find a mechanism to stop the Turkish violations and protect the region's residents and administration employees from deliberate and continuous attacks,” Abdi stated.

US officials, however, say they do not see a problem with compliance to the ceasefire agreement that they mediated with Turkey last fall.

“We are very satisfied with the ceasefire that we negotiated with the Turks on the 17th of October in northeast Syria,” Amb. James Jeffrey, US Special Representative for Syria Engagement, said during a press conference on August 17.

“There have been allegations on both sides of violations of it – attacks here, attacks there.  But generally speaking, in the context of Syria, we’re happy with that,” he affirmed.

Turkish-backed groups and the Turkish army continue to occasionally target and shell areas that are held by the SDF. Notably, civilians have been killed in the Turkish assaults.

In addition, the number of Turkish drone attacks targeting local fighters and officials has also increased.

In late June, three Kurdish women’s rights activists were killed in a Turkish drone strike in the city of Kobani.

The “SDF has no answer for Turkey's drones,” Nicholas Heras, Middle East Portfolio Manager at the Institute for the Study of War, told Kurdistan 24.

“The drones allow Turkey to monitor and strike SDF fighters with impunity,” he added.

A top official of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), Salih Muslim, during an online seminar on August 15, organized by the publisher Black Rose Books, said the Turkish drone strikes pose a huge issue for the Syrian Kurds.

“All the people are able to defend themselves. But the only problem” is “these drones, which are hitting everywhere,” he explained. “For example, in Kobani they hit three women, and also in some other places. This is the difficulty we are facing now.”

Muslim also suggested that the SDF had lost towns such as Afrin to Turkey due to Turkey’s air superiority. 

As a non-state actor, the SDF is not able to buy anti-aircraft systems, Muslim explained. Therefore, he said the US should close the airspace in northeast Syria to Turkey and implement a no-fly zone.

“The United States, and international alliance, should keep them (Turkey) out. If they do that, there wouldn’t be a problem for us.”

Editing by Laurie Mylroie