Civilian injured by Turkish shells near Manbij

"Turkish forces have fired nearly seven mortar shells on Al-Tukhar village, causing property damage," SOHR said.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2022/02/28 17:51

A fighter of the Manbij Military Council (MMC) on the frontline with Turkish backed groups (Photo: MMC).

Syria Manbij Military Council Manbij Turkish drone strikes SDF

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkish mortar shells injured a civilian in a village north of Manbij, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor reported on Monday.

"Turkish forces have fired nearly seven mortar shells on Al-Tukhar village, causing property damage," SOHR said.

The Manbij Military Council, backed by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), liberated the northern Syrian city with US support in 2016 in one of the bloodiest urban battles against ISIS in Syria.

However, US forces left the town and other border regions in northern Syria in October 2019 after Turkey targeted the SDF-held towns of Tal Abyad and Serekaniye (Ras al-Ain).

In 2019, after a long-threatened Turkish military incursion into northeast Syria to confront the Kurdish elements of the SDF, the US first mediated a ceasefire agreement between Turkey and the SDF on Oct. 17. A second such agreement, mediated by Moscow, followed on Oct. 22.

Yet, despite the agreements, Turkish-backed groups and the Turkish Army continue to target SDF-held areas periodically, including Manbij and Ain Issa.

Since late January, Turkish drone strikes in northeast Syria have increased.