A Bayraktar Akıncı combat drone. Source: the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
Areas held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria were hit by at least 42 Turkish airstrikes between October 5 and 6, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The London-based said that the airstrikes, which hit civilian infrastructure and military positions, claimed the lives of 14 civilians and SDF fighters.
From its side, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense said that 26 fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) were “neutralized” in recent airstrikes on northeastern Syria. The term neutralized is usually used by the ministry to imply that the personnel in question were killed or wounded.
The YPG is the core faction of the SDF and the PKK maintains much influence within the group, which is backed by the United States.
The last two Turkish airstrikes targeted two electricity situations near the towns of Segirka and al-Swaidiyah in the northeastern countryside of al-Hasakah.
The Turkish military and intelligence launched the strikes against SDF-held areas in northeastern Syria in response to a bomb attack in Ankara last weekend. The PKK claimed responsibility for the attack, which wounded two Turkish police officers.
On the first day of the attack against the SDF, a Turkish combat drone was shot down by an F-16 fighter jet after approaching a base hosting U.S. troops in the northern al-Hasakah countryside.
The Turkish attack will likely continue for several days. Ankara said that its forces could also launch a ground operation against the SDF in northeastern Syria. Nevertheless, this is unlikely to happen without the approval of both the U.S. and Russia.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC:
