An STM Kargu loitering munition. Source: STM. Click to see full-size image.
On August 24, three civilians were killed and six others were wounded when a Turkish loitering munitions struck the municipality of Tell Rifaat town in Syria’s Aleppo.
Tell Rifaat, one of the largest urban centers in the northern countryside of Aleppo, is jointly held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian Arab Army.
The strike was likely carried out with an STM Kargu loitering munition, which has a maximum range of five kilometers and an endurance of 30 minutes. The loitering munition can operate in a swarm and has AI [artificial intelligence] image processing capabilities with support for facial recognition.
A few hours after the deadly strike, an attack with indirect fire targeted a base of the Turkish military near the village of al-Ghuz in the northern Aleppo countryside. No material losses or casualties were reported.
The indirect fire attack was likely a response to the strike on Tell Rifaat. It was likely carried out by the Afrin Liberation forces, a proxy of the SDF.
After threatening the SDF with a new large-scale military operation for more than two months, Turkey stepped up its strikes on areas held by the group in northern and northeastern Syria. Dozens of SDF members and civilians were killed in the last few weeks as a result of these strikes. Ankara may be trying to intimidate the group. However, its exact military plan remains unclear.
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