Turkish drone bombs position near Manbij

Turkey has increased its shelling and drone strikes against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2022/02/06 11:09

An archive picture of armed drones (UAVs) operated by the Turkish air force. (Photo: AA)

Syria AANES SDF ISIS Manbij Manbij Military Council Hasakah Sinaa prison

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The media center of the Manbij Military Council (MMC) on Saturday said a Turkish drone had bombed a village near Manbij.

The MMC said that the "drone belonging to the Turkish occupation army stationed at the al-Yashli base, bombed the outskirts of the village of Umm Adasa, northwest of the city of Manbij, on the Sajur front lines."

The council, supported by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), liberated Manbij from ISIS with US support in 2016 in one of the bloodiest campaigns against the extremist group in Syria.

ISIS launched an attack on Hasakah's al-Sina'a prison, which holds 3,000 to 3,500 suspected terrorists, with an explosive-laden car on Jan. 20 as detainees rioted inside. The SDF announced on Jan. 30 that it fully recaptured the facility following the surrender of the remaining ISIS fighters there following ten days of fighting.

Following the announcement, Turkey increased its shelling and drone strikes against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria, including near Derik, Tel Tamir, Ain Issa, Tal Abyad, Manbij, as well as Kurdish villages in northern Aleppo (Shahba).

Also, a Turkish drone attacked a vehicle in the border town of Darbasiya in northeast Syria's al-Hasakah province on Thursday, after similar drone attacks in Ain Issa on Feb. 2 and Derik on Feb. 1.

In a statement, the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) claimed that Turkey stepped up its attacks in response to the recent defeat of ISIS in Hasakah.