Three civilians killed in shelling by Turkish-backed groups: SANA

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Three civilians were killed, including a child and a woman, on Thursday in shelling by Turkish-backed groups on rural communities in the northern countryside of Hasaka province, Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported.

There has been a recent uptick in shelling by Turkish-backed groups near Manbij in Aleppo province, Abu Rasin (also known as Zirgan in Kurdish) in Hasakah province, and Ain al Issa in Raqqa province.

Parts of the Great Mosque in Abu Rasin collapsed in the Thursday bombardments, SANA reported. Strikes also targeted the surroundings of al-Asadiya village near Abu Rasin.

According to the local Hawar News Agency (ANHA) and a press statement of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the victims were Cawaher Nahaar Khalaf, 35, and her sister Cemala Musa Nahaar and two-year-old child Alam Ali Issa.

Read More: Civilians killed, children wounded in northeastern Syria by Turkish-backed shelling: SDF

On Dec. 21, shelling by Turkish-backed groups outside the northeastern Syrian city of Tal Tamir killed three civilians and wounded several others, including children.

After Turkey conducted a cross-border attack into northeastern Syria in October 2019, Russia and the US reached separate ceasefire deals with Ankara, allowing Turkish troops to control the area between Tal Abyad and Serekaniye.

Despite such agreements, Turkish-backed groups and the Turkish army itself continue to target SDF-held areas periodically.

In some cases, villagers living in Syrian-Turkish border areas are killed in bombardments by Turkish-backed groups.