Security

Six Syrian soldiers injured in Turkish shelling: SOHR

Six Syrian government soldiers were injured when Turkish forces targeted a Syrian government position in the Aqlamiyah village in Afrin.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2023/01/01 23:51

Syrian soldiers in al-Bab (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Syria SDF Turkey Syrian National Army (SNA) ISIS

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Six Syrian government soldiers were injured when Turkish forces targeted a Syrian government position in the Aqlamiyah village in Afrin, located in the northern countryside of Aleppo, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor reported on Friday.

Moreover, Turkish forces have shelled the villages of Harbel, Abyan, Khouribga, Tel Madiq and Hasajak in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

This comes amidst a bomb explosion on Sunday, which killed one fighter of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) in the Basouta village of Afrin, reported North Press.

Violent clashes with heavy and medium machine guns erupted between Kurdish and Syrian government forces on the one hand and the SNA on the frontlines of the Abla village in the eastern countryside of Aleppo. No casualties were reported.

Also, on Saturday evening, one Syrian soldier died in clashes between SNA factions and the Syrian government on the Tadef frontline in the Al-Bab countryside, east of Aleppo.

The tensions between Turkish-backed factions and Syrian government forces comes amidst signs of rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus orchestrated by Russia.

The defence ministers of Turkey, Syria and Russia met in Moscow on Dec. 28 for the first time since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

AFP reported that the foreign ministers of Turkey, Syria and Russia will now also meet "in the second half of January.”

The rapprochement has caused concerns between the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition in northwest Syria and Kurdish-led forces. Both fear that they could become victims of a deal between Ankara and Damascus.

While Damascus wants the Turkish army that has been occupying territory since 2016 to leave Syria, Ankara wants to end the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria (AANES).

Moreover, Turkey, Russia and Syria want US forces to leave northern Syria. The US has supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against ISIS militants since 2014.