Turkish drone attacks Syria's Tal Rifaat amidst invasion threats 

A Turkish drone on Monday targeted a position in Tal Rifaat amidst fears Turkey might launch a new operation in the area.
An archive picture of an armed Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone (Photo: AA)
An archive picture of an armed Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone (Photo: AA)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Turkish drone attacked a target in the northwestern Syrian city of Tal Rifaat in Aleppo province on Monday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor reported.

The Syria-based North Press agency reported that a Syrian government post was hit in the attack.

Turkey has repeatedly declared its intention to attack Syria's Tal Rifaat and Manbij.

Syrian Kurdish forces have a presence in both Tal Rifaat and Manbij, as do pro-Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed forces. 

Tal Rifaat hosts a large number of civilians displaced from Afrin, a northwestern Syrian Kurdish region Turkey and its proxy Syrian militants invaded in 2018.

Syrian Kurdish officials fear that they could be displaced again if Turkey launches a new operation. 

A tripartite meeting will be held on July 19 between Iran, Turkey, and Russia. It is expected that Turkey will try to convince Russia and Iran to allow a new cross-border Turkish offensive.

Russia has troops in both Manbij and Tal Rifaat, where Turkey is supposedly planning to launch a new operation. However, Russia opposes any operation in the area. 

"We believe that the other parties will not allow the Turkish forces to attack our regions," SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi told reporters during a press conference on Friday.