ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Thursday denied reports that the strategic Tishreen Dam near Manbij city has fallen under the control of militants.
Turkish state-owned Anadolu Agency on Thursday cited unnamed officials from the country’s defense ministry claiming that the Ankara-backed militants, who call themselves the Syrian National Army (SNA), were in control of Tishreen Dam where fierce clashes have taken place between the SNA and the SDF for weeks.
“Today is the 26th of December, 2024, at 5:20. I stand in the Tishreen Dam area, on the body of the dam, to be exact,” said Farhad Shami, SDF spokesperson, in a video, denying the takeover of the dam by the SNA.
“The deceptive Turkish statements coming from the Turkish defense ministry come in the framework of a mental warfare to raise the spirits of their mercenaries who are currently suffering from demoralization as a result of the repeated losses among their ranks,” Shami noted, claiming that they have killed more than 450 SNA militants in the last three weeks.
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 SDF launched a counterattack earlier this week, claiming to have regained control of several villages near Manbij.
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.
Kurdish officials had repeatedly warned that the recent attacks on the dam have severely damaged its structure and operations.
