ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish air forces on Monday targeted over 25 service facilities and killed at least eight civilians in northeast Syria (Rojava), said the spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The Turkish army has been relentlessly bombarding oil fields and refineries, electricity stations and other civil service facilities in Rojava, especially in Qamishli, since Saturday after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) killed at least 12 Turkish soldiers in Kurdistan Region’s mountainous areas.
Farhad Shami, head of SDF’s media centre, said in a post on X that Ankara has hit at least 25 service facilities during its retaliatory strikes, noting that the attacks have resulted in the death of eight civilians, including two women.
“The Turkish occupation is attempting to export its internal crisis abroad and create a false victory by terrorizing civilians and directly targeting them in an apparent war crime in front of the international community. We, the Syrian Democratic Forces, are committed to protecting our people and responding to all attacks," Shami said. He later told local media that no SDF fighters were killed in the attacks.
The airstrikes have also led to the injury of 12 civilians, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
North Press Agency, a media outlet close to the Kurdish authorities in Rojava, reported that a drone strike hit a hospital in Qamishli.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a statement that one of their medical facilities in Kobane was targeted.”
“The clinic used to be managed by Doctors Without Borders, but activities were handed over to local health authorities in 2019,” it stated, urging “all parties to the conflict to ensure the protection of health facilities.”
The residents of Qamishili took to the streets, condemning the Turkish airstrikes.
“Stop the Turkish aggression,” was one of their slogans.
Ankara claims that Kurdish forces in Rojava are the Syrian offshoots of the PKK.
The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), which governs Rojava, said in a statement on Sunday that “these attacks increase human and economic suffering.”
The Turkish defense ministry on Monday said that its airstrikes in Rojava and Kurdistan Region on Saturday night “neutralized” at least 26 members of the Kurdish groups. Turkey uses the term “neutralize” to denote adversaries captured, wounded, or killed.
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The main battlefield in the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish army has moved out of Turkey’s borders and into the north of the Kurdistan Region where both the PKK and Turkish forces have recently increased their attacks on the other. Turkey also frequently targets Kurdish forces in Rojava which it says are offshoots of the PKK. Civilians are frequently caught in the crossfire.
"Dangerous turn"
Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the SDF, said in a post on X that "The Turkish aggression has taken a dangerous turn today, expanding its targeting of infrastructure and civilian facilities in northeast Syria."
He called on Ankara to "focus on its internal issues and address them within its borders," referring to Turkey's conflict with the PKK.
The Kurdish commander warned against the silence of the international community.
"The silence of the international community and human rights organizations is a worrying signal. We are counting on agreements with the international coalition to avoid aggravation of the situation and the occurrence of a major war," he noted.
Abdi said on Sunday that this is the third time Turkey targets Rojava’s infrastructure and service facilities in a year, adding that Ankara is carrying out a “policy of starvation and occupation” which he described as “war crimes.”
Turkey carried out similar attacks against Rojava’s infrastructure in October as a response to PKK’s attack on the Turkish interior ministry in Ankara.
Sinam Mohamad, Syrian Democratic Council Representative to the United States, said in a post on X late Monday that "The only medical oxygen factory in the city of Qamishlo went out of service, after it was bombed by the Turkish occupation army this evening," calling on the US President Joe Biden to stop Turkish attacks as Christmas in Rojava was turned into a "bloody one by Turkey."
