Turkish drone targets car on Qamishlo-Hasakah road: SOHR
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Wednesday reported that a Turkish drone targeted a car on the road between Qamishlo and Hasakah.
Casualties from the attack are currently unknown.
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— المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان (@syriahr) January 24, 2024
طائرة مسيّرة تركية تسـ ـتـ ـهدف سيارة على الطريق الواصل بين #الحسكة و #القامشليhttps://t.co/2NnUxThJe7
According to the most recent data update from SOHR, Turkey has executed 60 drone strikes since the beginning of 2024, leading to 6 deaths and injuring another 60 persons.
Turkey has stepped up drone and air strikes thus far in 2024 after 9 Turkish soldiers were killed in late December in clashes with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region.
Turkey has also threatened the militant group with more strikes and cross-border operations.
Ankara considers both the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as Syrian branches of the PKK, an allegation frequently refuted by the Kurdish forces.
On Jan. 16, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a speech said they would not stop attacks until all “terrorist nests established with insidious intentions in Syria, from Tell Rifaat to Ayn al-Arab, Al-Hasakah to Manbij."
The SDF have complained to the U.S. about its silence over the increased Turkish aggression that has heavily damaged infrastructure in northeast Syria.
“Our American partner's silence as our schools, hospitals and power plants are being destroyed, as civilians are being killed in Turkish drone strikes, regretfully leads us to a sole conclusion: that the Turks are acting with the unspoken blessing of the United States,” SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi recently told Al Monitor.
According to a report of the Northeast Syria (NES) NGO Forum, a coordination group for non-governmental organizations operating in northeast Syria, escalations (by Turkey) in October through December 2023, have all but decimated the civilian infrastructure relied upon by the population of the Kurdish enclave.
“Electricity transfer stations, water stations, gas and fuel plants have been targeted repeatedly,” the report said.
“From January 13-16, 2024, 40 verified strikes were conducted across Northeast Syria. At least six civilians have been injured in this escalation alone, while at least 26 critical infrastructure sites are either severely damaged or out of service,” it further added.
The Forum further called on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease all hostilities in northeast Syria , similar to previous calls by the UN that has called for a countrywide ceasefire in Syria.
Editing by Dastan Muwaffaq