“We condemn the terror attack on Thursday against Turkish forces in Ras al-Ayn, which resulted in the death of two Turkish service members. The violence this week near Ayn Issa, Tel Tamer, and Ras al-Ayn has jeopardized the region’s stability,” read a statement from the embassy on Friday.
On Thursday, sixteen people, including two Turkish soldiers, were reported killed in a car bombing in Sari Kani, the latest in a string of bombings and clashes in the area that have sent people fleeing their homes.
Sari Kani and the nearby town of Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) came under control of Turkey and its Syrian proxies after a Turkish-led military operation in October 2019. In two separate ceasefires brokered by Washington and Moscow, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew south of the M4 highway and an uneasy truce prevailed.
In recent weeks, however, there have been several bombings of Turkish and Syrian militia positions in areas under their control. And Turkish forces with their proxies have carried out near daily attacks around Ain Issa, south of the truce line.
Conflict monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented the displacement of more than 7,000 civilians from the area in the past month “in light of the major Turkish escalation and fears of an imminent military operation by Turkish forces and proxy factions.”
In late October, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the SDF of maintaining a presence along the border and said Turkey has “legitimate cause to act whenever we need to eliminate all terrorists from the areas we have identified.”
Russia, a guarantor of the ceasefire, is reportedly building new positions around Ain Issa, in coordination with the SDF.
The US embassy issued a call for “all parties to exercise restraint, deescalate the situation, and preserve the October 2019 ceasefire.”
The US closed its physical embassy in Damascus in 2012.
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