ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday launched a counterattack near the strategic Tishreen Dam on the Euphrates River, the spokesperson of the Kurdish-led forces announced, with clashes still ongoing.
“During the counterattack conducted this morning by the forces of the Manbij Military Council in the vicinity of the Tishreen Dam, our forces seized ten bodies of eliminated Turkish occupation mercenaries, captured one mercenary, and destroyed five military vehicles belonging to the Turkish occupation mercenaries,” SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said on X.
“The counterattack is still ongoing across multiple axes,” he added.
The Syrian National Army (SNA), which Turkey backs, has been attacking the SDF at Tishreen Dam. The dam sits on the Euphrates River, upstream from scores of towns and villages, urban centers like Raqqa, and downstream from the border town of Kobane. It provides electricity to much of northeast Syria (Rojava). The SDF took control of the facility from ISIS in 2015 with the help of American troops.
The SDF on Saturday said that it killed 52 SNA militiamen and five of their fighters were killed following a day of intense clashes near the Tishreen Dam.
Kurdish officials had repeatedly warned that the recent attacks on the dam have severely damaged its structure and operations.
The conflict began late last month when Turkish-backed militia groups launched an offensive against the SDF in the north of Syria, taking control of Shahba and Manbij.
The US brokered a temporary ceasefire between the warring parties, but the Turkish foreign ministry denied agreeing to it and said that Ankara does not negotiate with “terrorist organizations.”
Turkey considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, as the Syrian front for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - designated as a terrorist group by Ankara.
