Turkish strikes increase in northeast Syria
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The Syria-based Rojava Information Centre (RIC) on Sunday said that Turkish drone strikes continued in northeast Syria. Local media reported that several Turkish strikes hit dozens of locations in the Kurdish enclave, injuring at least 5 civilians.
Read More: Turkish drone strikes target locations in Ain Issa
“Turkey is periodically conducting short but intense airstrike campaigns targeting civilian infrastructure in NES (northeast Syria),” the RIC said in a post on X.
“Following such campaigns in October and December - which devastated NES' power facilities - Turkey is currently conducting another one.”
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) called the Turkish strikes a war crime and a “continuation of the systematic Turkish policy of targeting infrastructure and public facilities belonging to the Syrian people.”
However, the Turkish Defense Ministry said it has taken precautions to prevent harm to civilians and cultural sites.
The SOHR said that Turkey carried out drone and airstrikes near Kobani, Derbasiyah, Ain Issa, Amude.
Also, Syrian Government soldiers were targeted near Qamishlo and northwest Aleppo, killing at least five soldiers.
“Two children and a woman were injured in an airstrike by a Turkish drone on a house in Kar Bateli, south of Derbasiyah in Al-Hasakah countryside,” the SOHR said.
The Turkish air operation in the Kurdistan Region and northeast Syria was launched on Saturday midnight after nine Turkish soldiers were killed in a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) infiltration attack on a Turkish base in the Kurdistan Region.
On Saturday, senior officials of the Turkish Government also held a security meeting shared by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The
Moreover, the Turkish Parliament is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss the recent uptick in PKK aggression.
In addition to Turkish strikes, Iranian-backed groups since October have continued attacks on US-led Coalition bases in northeast Syria.
Furthermore, Human Rights Watch in its World Report 2024 on Thursday said the Turkish Armed Forces stepped up attacks on areas in the northeast last year under the control of Kurdish-led forces, destroying critical infrastructure and resulting in water and electricity disruptions for millions of people.
In a scathing response to the Turkish attacks, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) published a report saying "Over the past two days, the Turkish occupation has targeted, using warplanes and UAVs, key energy and electricity facilities, as well as grain storage warehouses and silos and firefighting crews."
The SDF further noted that "These aggressions have extended to the homes of civilians, their farms, and the sources of their daily sustenance, impacting major roads, and city outskirts, and causing extensive destruction. Consequently, these attacks have disrupted the delivery of essential services, including power, electricity, water, and other necessities, affecting hundreds of thousands of people."
Editing by Dastan Muwaffaq