Image: aa.com.tr
On December 21, two people were killed and four others were wounded as a result of a series of Turkish artillery strikes that targeted several towns and villages held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeastern countryside of Syria’s al-Hasakah.
The artillery strikes targeted the towns and villages of Dada Abdel, Nuwaihat, Asadiya, Khadrawi, Umm Harmala, Tell Ward, Khirbet Shaer in Abu Rasin sub-district as well as the villages of Tell Shanan, Dardara, Umm al-Keif, Tal Juma’a, Tal Karabet, Tal Kafji and Tawila which are located around the key town of Tell Tamer.
The victims of the Turkish artillery strikes were a young child and a woman. At least two of the wounded are also children.
Just a day earlier, a series of Turkish artillery strikes targeted the surroundings of the SDF-held town of Manbij in the northern Aleppo countryside. A woman and her child were killed in the strikes.
The recent Turkish artillery strikes will likely provoke a fierce response form the SDF. The group responded to similar strikes in the past.
The Turkish military and its proxies could use any response by the SDF as a pretext to justify a new large-scale military operation in northern and northeastern Syria. Ankara has been reportedly preparing for such an operation for a few months now.
