Damascus denies responsibility in deadly attack on northern Syria village

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Damascus government on Sunday denied involvement in deadly strikes on northern Syria that killed five women and two toddlers, and injured several others.

 

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) accused Damascus-affiliated forces of launching drone strikes and mortar shelling, carrying out a “massacre” in the village of Umm Tina, located in the Deir Hafer countryside, eastern Aleppo on Saturday night. The Syrian Defense Ministry denied responsibility.

 

"We affirm our categorical denial of the reports promoted by their [SDF's] affiliated media outlets regarding the Syrian Arab Army targeting the village of Umm Tina. We emphasize that the party that shelled the village is the SDF itself," the defense ministry said in a statement carried by the state media.

 

The Syrian government said it holds the Kurdish-led force "fully responsible for the massacre it committed against the people of the village of Umm Tina."

 

The statement added that the Kurdish-led force "continues to systematically target civilians in the eastern Aleppo countryside. On September 10, they committed a massacre in the village of Al-Kayariya, which resulted in the martyrdom of two civilians and the injury of three others."

The SDF immediately rebuked the Syrian defense ministry's claims.

 

"We hold the Damascus government fully responsible for the massacre, which has been documented with names, and we call on it to rein in its unruly factions and engage in a peaceful path that prioritizes the lives and security of Syrians over political and military calculations,” said the SDF in a statement.

 

Tensions between the SDF and Damascus continue to escalate, amid difficulties in implementing a landmark March agreement. The two sides are at odds over the interpretation of the term integration. While the SDF seeks to join the Syrian forces as a unified bloc, Damascus prefers to individually absorb and assimilate Kurdish fighters into the national army.

 

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the incident and said that the seven were killed by Syrian army shelling. It also reported clashes between pro-government forces and the SDF in the Deir Hafer area.

 

Deir Hafer is a strategic area located in eastern Aleppo province. It remains largely under SDF control, which functions as the de facto military force of northeastern Syria (Rojava).

 

In its Saturday statement, the SDF had condemned the attack as a “heinous crime that reflects the systematic policy pursued by these factions for years.”

 

In recent weeks, Damascus-aligned factions have intensified efforts to seize the district, as it would enable them to open a logistical corridor to Raqqa province in north-central Syria. It would also allow them to put military pressure on the SDF in other regions crucial for the Kurdish forces’ operations, including Tishreen Dam and Qere Qozaq bridge, both on the Euphrates River.

 

Earlier on Saturday, the SDF accused “militants” affiliated with Damascus of launching a drone strike against one of their outposts in Deir Hafer. The SDF said it “immediately and precisely responded to the sources of fire, achieving confirmed hits that forced the attackers to retreat.”