ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Four children were injured on Tuesday in an attack reportedly carried out by Syrian government forces in eastern Aleppo, according to media outlets affiliated with the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava). The reports added that Damascus-affiliated militants launched a drone strike that injured members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reported that “transitional government forces shelled the village of Zubaidah” in the Deir Hafer district of eastern Aleppo “using heavy artillery,” resulting in “injuries to four children with varying degrees of severity.”
Later on Tuesday, ANHA also reported that “militants” affiliated with the Syrian interim authorities “launched a drone attack at 6:30 pm today, targeting an SDF post” in Deir Hafer as well. “Two SDF fighters were wounded in the attack,” the outlet said.
The same reports were relayed by Ronahi TV, another media outlet close to the SDF.
Similarly, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR)- which relies on a wide network of sources across Syria - corroborated the drone strike incident, stating that “two SDF members were injured in a drone attack carried out by government forces at a military outpost [held by the SDF] in Deir Hafer.”
SOHR further reported that Syrian government forces had on Sunday “deployed military reinforcements to the city of Manbij,” also in eastern Aleppo.
The war monitor elaborated that “vehicles carrying weapons and equipment entered the city as [Syrian] army personnel heavily deployed throughout it,” prompting the SDF to also “deploy heavy weapons” to their position around Deir Hafer.
SOHR warned that the prevalent state of “security and military alert between the two sides” and the military buildup are “stoking fears of new confrontations” between the two sides in eastern Aleppo.
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 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 had accused Damascus-affiliated forces of carrying out a “massacre” in Deir Hafer, killing five women and two toddlers in drone strikes and artillery shelling - an accusation Damascus firmly denied.
In a statement on X, the Kurdish-led forces reported that “seven civilians were martyred, including two children” and five women, in the village of Umm Tina, in an attack carried out by “pro-Turkey factions affiliated with the Damascus government. Three other women and a 60-year-old man were also injured in the attack.
The SDF condemned the attack as a “heinous crime,” noting that “the absence of accountability has only emboldened the perpetrators to repeat such grave violations.”
SOHR also reported the Saturday incident, attributing the casualties to “Syrian army shelling.”
For its part, the Syrian defense ministry vehemently rejected any responsibility, stating, "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.”
Instead, the ministry accused the SDF of shelling the village in reference, holding the Kurdish-led force "fully responsible for the massacre against the people of the village of Umm Tina."
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