19-year old woman injured in mysterious grenade attack in north Syria

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A 19-year old woman was injured on Thursday evening after unidentified assailants threw a hand grenade toward a civilian residence in the northern Syrian city of Qamishli (Qamishlo).

Initially, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that a civilian was injured by a rocket launched from Turkey, but that later investigation by local security forces showed that this was not the case.

“Unknown persons threw a hand grenade at one of the houses in the city of Qamishli at 10:45 PM on Thursday 23 July in the court yard in the Mahata Qadime (Old Station) neighborhood, north of the city of Qamishli,” the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) said in a statement on Thursday.

As a result, a 19-year old woman was injured and transferred to a local hospital. 

“The investigation is ongoing to find out who committed the act and bring them to justice in order to obtain their just punishment,” the Asayish said.

So far, it’s unclear who was behind the attack. 

The Syrian regime, the Islamic State, and Turkish-backed militias have in the past carried out similar attacks in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The Syrian-based Rojava Information Centre (RIC), wrote in a tweet that the incident occurred in the “same neighborhood Turkey targeted with a rocket earlier this week, as part of an ongoing increase in Turkish aggressions along the border.”

On Monday, two persons were injured in the border city by a rocket reportedly coming from inside Turkish territory.

After Turkey intervened in northeastern Syria in October 2019, Russia and the US reached separate ceasefire deals with Ankara that limited Turkish control of the area between Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain (Serikaniye). 

Despite these agreements, Turkish-backed groups and the Turkish army itself continue to periodically target SDF-held areas. In some cases, villagers living in Syrian-Turkish border areas have been killed in attacks by the Turkish army and the rebel forces Ankara supports.

Moreover, within the city of Qamishli, irregular clashes have occurred periodically in the past between the Asayish and pro-Syrian government forces.

In late April, clashes took place between the Asayish and the Syrian regime’s National Defense Forces, according to a report by the SOHR at the time.

The city has also previously been the scene of stun grenades thrown by unknown assailants. In May, one exploded in the Antariyah neighborhood of Qamishli.

One week earlier, unidentified assailants reportedly threw another stun grenade toward a Syriac Asayish headquarters in Qamishli.

Editing by John J. Catherine