SDF denies its fighters killed in Turkish air campaign

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday denied that its fighters were killed in the ongoing Turkish air campaign in northeast Syria since Saturday midnight.

“We categorically deny this disinformation and assert that none of our fighters have been martyred or injured during the ongoing brutal aggression,” the SDF said in a statement.

The SDF accused the Turkish army of the “systematic destruction of essential service institutions and the deliberate targeting of vital life-supporting elements for millions of people.”

It further called the air campaign a ‘terrorist aggression against our regions and people.”

Turkey considers both the People's Protection Units (YPG) and its parent organization, the SDF, as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) — which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union, and the United States. 

On the other hand, the U.S. sees the YPG as distinct from the PKK and considers it a valuable ally in the fight against ISIS. The SDF and YPG have also denied being linked to the PKK.

The Turkish Defense Ministry on Sunday claimed that they killed seven PKK/YPG militants.

Moreover, the Turkish government claimed they “destroyed 23 strategically critical targets” in northeast Syria, the pro-Turkey Daily Sabah reported, adding that the strikes hit energy, infrastructure, military, intelligence facilities, checkpoints, military facilities, logistic depots, among others.

Read More: Turkish strikes deprive hundreds of northeast Syria villages from power

Since Saturday, Turkey said it had dozens of targets in northern Syria and the Kurdistan Region after nine of its soldiers were killed in a clash with the PKK in the territory last Friday.

Moreover, the Rojava Information Centre on Sunday said that following such air campaigns in October and December - “which devastated NES' power facilities - Turkey is currently conducting another one.”

Editing by Dastan Muwaffaq