ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Wednesday that the recent attacks by militia groups on civilians protesting at the Tishreen Dam in northern Syria have killed at least 20 people and injured over 120 others.
SDF has accused Turkey and the militia groups it supports, who call themselves the Syrian National Army (SNA), of carrying out attacks on the crucial Tishreen Dam near Manbij city. Hundreds of civilians have travelled from other SDF-held areas in northeast Syria (Rojava) to the dam to form a human shield but they have come under several drone attacks.
“The attacks on the Dam… have resulted in the martyrdom of more than 20 civilians and injured over 120 others,” said the SDF in a statement on Wednesday, adding that Turkish-made drones like Bayraktar and Akinci were used in the bombardments.
The takeover of the dam could help Ankara and the SNA to easily advance to other parts of Rojava.
Tishreen Dam sits on the Euphrates River in northern Syria, upstream from scores of towns and villages as well as urban centres like Raqqa. It provides electricity to much of Rojava.
Rojava’s environmental authority warned on Monday that a collapse of the dam would result in an “environmental disaster” that would affect hundreds of thousands and cut electricity access amid militant attacks.