Turkish drone strike injures civilian near north Syrian town of Kobani
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Turkish drone on Friday afternoon targeted a civilian in the countryside of Kobani injuring one civilian, according to the Syria-based Rojava Information Center (RIC).
It was the first Turkish cross-border attack into northeastern Syria in 2021.
One civilian has been wounded in a Turkish drone strike targeting a civil house in Memitê village, south of Kobane, in what appears to be an attempted assasination.
— Rojava Information Center (@RojavaIC) January 22, 2021
This is the 9th cross-border attack on NE Syria since June 23, when 3 women activists were killed in Kobane. pic.twitter.com/FhcagW8aib
“One civilian has been wounded in a Turkish drone strike targeting a civil house in Memitê village, south of Kobane, in what appears to be an attempted assassination,” the RIC said in a tweet on Friday.
“This is the 9th cross-border attack on NE (Northeast) Syria since June 23, when 3 women activists were killed in Kobane.”
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) in a report said that there haven’t been any other recent drone attacks in the area.
After Turkey attacked northeastern Syria in October 2019, Russia and the US reached separate ceasefire deals with Ankara, both of which allowed Turkish troops to control the area between Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain (Serikaniye).
Despite the agreements, Turkish-backed groups and the Turkish army continue to occasionally target areas held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Other Turkish drone attacks have also killed multiple civilians since October 2019.
In late June, an alleged Turkish drone strike killed three Kurdish women’s rights activists in Kobani, a city once besieged by the Islamic State terrorist organization.
Read More: Turkish drone strike kills 3 women in north Syria's Kurdish city of Kobani
Over the past few months, Turkish-backed groups have also staged attacks in the Ain Issa region, most recently on Friday night.
The General Command of the Internal Security Forces in North and East Syria, also known as Asayish, in a statement on Friday called on the US-led Coalition to “uphold its responsibilities towards the recurred Turkish aggression.”
The Asayish said the aim of Turkey is to undermine “the gains of the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES)” and to destabilize the region.
Local officials and Kurdish civilians still fear that Kobani could be a target for a possible Turkish attack in the future because the city was a global symbol in the fight against the Islamic State.
On Tuesday, Kurds in northern Syria will celebrate the anniversary of the liberation of Kobani from the Islamic State.
On Jan. 26, 2015, the Kurdish YPG, along with FSA and Peshmerga support and continued US-led airstrikes, liberated the city.
“Turkey is seeking to use attrition against the SDF defenders of Ain Issa to force the SDF to withdraw. The Turks want to use air and artillery superiority to make defending the town prohibitively expensive for the SDF,” Nicholas Heras, of Washington's Institute for the Study of War, told Kurdistan 24
Moreover, he added that Turkey is “trying to hunt and kill senior Kurdish leaders,” in and around Kobani.
“Turkey has different objectives in Kobani versus in Ain Issa.”
Editing by John J. Catherine