ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A child was injured in a Turkish bombardment near the northern Syrian city of Manbij, the local military council said in a statement late Saturday.
Turkish forces bombed the village of Arab Hassan, northwest of Manbij late Saturday afternoon, injuring 10-year-old Malik Faisal al-Jarad in the leg, according to a statement from the Manbij Military Council.
“These strikes caused damage to the property of the residents, including agricultural land and livestock as well,” added statement.
The Turkish defense ministry has not immediately reported the incident.
Local media reported that the child is in stable condition and receiving treatment at a Manbij hospital.
Turkey has several times in the past threatened to attack Manbij to force out Kurdish forces from the city. In 2018, Ankara and Washington struck a deal that saw the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) leave the city and control handed over to local councils.
Ankara claims that the Kurdish fighters are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey, and Turkish forces regularly bomb Kurdish positions in violation of ceasefires brokered in 2019 by the United States and Russia. Several civilians have been killed and injured in recent weeks.
The spokesperson for the YPG, which is the backbone of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said on Friday that they are “disappointed” that the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) has chosen to be silent about Turkey’s attacks.
