Security

SDF denies involvement in attack in northern Syria amid new Turkish threats

"Turkey is determined to eliminate threats arising from northern Syria, either together with forces active there, or with our own means."

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2021/10/11 21:11

An explosion rocks the Turkish-occupied town of Jarabulus, northern Syria, on October 11, 2021. (Photo: SOHR)

Syria Syria Rojava Turkey

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied involvement in an explosion in a village near the Syrian town of Jarabulus that killed three people and injured six. Moreover, they denied being involved in an attack near the Turkish border.

“Our forces [had] nothing to do with the bombing of Jarablus city or the Turkish border,” the SDF media center said, blaming it, instead, on Ankara and militant Syrian fighters they back.

On Monday, Turkish pro-government media accused the Kurdish component of the US-allied SDF, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), of attacking the Turkish border town of Karkamış with mortar shells and being behind an explosion in Jarabulus.

There was only material damage to houses in the Turkish town.

There were, however, three deaths in the al-Dabis area bombing, located in the eastern Allepo district of Jarabulus, according to the White Helmets (also known as the Syria Civil Defence).

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also confirmed three deaths in the incident.

SOHR noted that the explosion was most likely due to haphazardly stored ammunition that blew up in the headquarters of the Turkish-backed Sultan Murad Division militias in the al-Dabis village.

In another incident in Turkish-occupied areas, one person was killed on Monday, and five were reported injured when a car bomb exploded in the Kurdish city of Afrin in the northern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo province.

The war monitor SOHR later reported that the death toll rose to 6 killed, and 12 were wounded.

A day earlier, two Turkish officers were killed in a guided rocket attack in northern Aleppo.

According to a report in the pro-Turkish government paper Daily Sabah, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late Monday that Turkey’s patience is wearing thin and might carry out new operations in Syria.

“Turkey is determined to eliminate threats arising from northern Syria, either together with forces active there, or with our own means.”

Ankara has carried out three cross-border military operations in Syria to date. They were Operation Euphrates Shield (August 2016-March 2017) in northern Aleppo, Operation Olive Branch (January 2018-March 2018) in Afrin, and Operation Peace Spring (October 2019) in an area between Tal Abyad and Serekaniye.

The primary aim of these operations was to prevent territorial expansion by the YPG and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Since then, the areas Turkey has occupied have been plagued by regular attacks on Turkish-backed forces and indiscriminate bombings that have also killed civilians. The region also sees frequent infighting between rival factions that also lead to civilian deaths.

No one has credibly claimed responsibility for these incidents. Nevertheless, the Turkish state has blamed insurgents tied to the YPG for similar deadly attacks in the past.

The YPG and the SDF have previously condemned such indiscriminate attacks and rejected Turkish accusations.

Turkish-backed groups and the Turkish Army have intensified their artillery, air, and drone strikes in the last few months, mainly against areas under the control of the Kurdish-run SDF.