Continued escalation: Four fighters, civilian killed by Turkish drone strikes in Manbij
Turkey has increased its shelling and drone strikes in northeast Syria and northwest Syria after Turkish military bases in Aleppo’s countryside were targeted last Saturday.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Manbij Military Council Media Center in a statement on Wednesday said that four fighters of the Manbij Military Council were killed and two others injured by a Turkish drone strike.
“The fighters were trying to rescue two injured children in the al-Dandania village, northwest of Manbij,” the council said, which was earlier subjected to heavy Turkish artillery shelling. “Additionally, in the village of Arab Hassan, a civilian was martyred due to a UAV (drone) strike on his home,” the council said.
The official Twitter account of the Turkish Ministry of National Defence on Wednesday also claimed that the Turkish army ‘neutralized’ 41 People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters by hitting locations in Tal Rifaat and Manbij, in response to an attack on Turkish military bases.
The Twitter account of Office of Media and Information of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied 41 fighters were killed. “We have no forces in Tal Rifaat,” the SDF said. However, it confirmed that the Manbij Military Council lost five fighters.
Read More: Turkish shelling hits northern Aleppo after Turkish base targeted
On June 11, Turkey increased its shelling and drone strikes in northeast Syria and northwest Syria after Turkish military bases in Aleppo’s countryside were targeted by missiles fired from areas under control by Kurdish and Syrian government forces in northern Aleppo.
The base was hit after 3 YPG fighters were killed by a Turkish drone strike on June 10.
Also on Tuesday, Turkey carried out heavy shelling and drone strikes on Kurdish-led forces and the Syrian military.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that on Wednesday two Syrian soldiers were injured by Turkish shelling in northern Aleppo. On Tuesday, reportedly three Syrian soldiers were also killed by a Turkish drone strike.