Bayrakdar TB2 UCAV, source: ssb.gov.tr
Turkish combat drone continue to target areas held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria’s northeastern region.
Late on August 21, a drone strike targeted a mini truck as it was passing on a road to the east of the town of Kobane in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo. The mini truck received a direct hit. However, the munition didn’t explode, most likely as a result of a technical failure.
The Hawar News Agency claimed that the mini truck is owned by a local civilian named Abdullah Jaiman Hami. This is yet to be verified.
A second Turkish drone strike took place at August 22 noon. The strike targeted an SUV of the SDF’s administrative wing, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), in the city of al-Qamishli in the northern al-Hasakah countryside. The SUV was parked in front of a medical center for the war-wounded.
According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the targeted SUV belongs to a senior official of the ANNES. The official survived the strike.
On August 20, two Turkish drone strikes targeted northeastern Syria. The first strike claimed the life of Saladin al-Shihabi, an Iranian Kurdish commander of the SDF. The second strike claimed the lives of four personnel of the SDF, including a commander of the Tell Tamer Military Council.
Incapable of stopping Turkish combat drones, the SDF held Russia responsible for all recent drone strikes on northeastern Syria.
“The Syrian Democratic Council [the political wing of the SDF] condemns and denounces in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks of the Turkish occupation state, holds the Russian Federation government responsible for the Turkish attacks and calls on the Russian government and its forces operating in Syria to condemn these attacks and put an end to Turkish violations of the ceasefire agreement,” the group said in a statement.
As usual, the group’s tune towards the US, its main ally, was much softer. The SDF called on the US-led coalition to “reveal its stand” on Turkey’s repeated strikes.
Turkey’s drone strikes on northeastern Syria will not likely stop. Ankara appears to be pressuring the SDF and its leadership, likely in an attempt to expand its indirect influence in the region.
