“Our forces thwarted all attacks by the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries, supported by Turkish warplanes and drones, on areas east and south of Manbij and north of Tishreen Dam, inflicting dozens of deaths and injuries,” said SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami on X.
Kurdish forces in northern Syria are under intensified attacks by Turkey and Turkish-backed SNA militants, who have taken the strategic towns of Tal Rifaat and Manbij since late November.
Clashes are ongoing, especially near Tishreen Dam and Qere Qozaq bridge on the Euphrates River that leads to the symbolic Kurdish city of Kobane on the Turkish border. The SDF has claimed to have repelled dozens of SNA attacks, saying in a Friday statement that it killed over 70 militants and injured numerous others.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said on Sunday that the ongoing “violent” clashes have killed 15 SNA members.
Four SDF members were also killed in a Turkish drone strike near the dam, according to the Observatory.
Last month, the US brokered a ceasefire between the SDF and Turkey, though Ankara denied having agreed to the arrangement.
The Pentagon said on Monday that the ceasefire is “still holding.”
US troops are on the ground in northern Syria as allies of the SDF in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).
