Hundreds abducted, killed in suspected Turkish attacks in Rojava last year

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Hundreds of people, including security members, were killed and abducted in suspected Turkish attacks targeting north and northeastern Syria (Rojava) over the past year, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a recent report displaying the upsurge in offensives in the region.

Over 700 civilians were kidnapped and 134 were injured in Turkish attacks in 2021, the SDF said on Thursday.

One hundred and forty eight SDF members died responding to Turkish attacks and pursuing Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cells that remain active in the region, the report added.

Ankara often targets Rojava, killing and injuring civilians and security forces.

Rojava saw 47 Turkish ground attacks and incursion attempts, as well as 89 drone offensives, according to the SDF.

Fifty-eight villages and three districts were the targets of direct bombardment. Zirgan district has seen an increase of suspected Turkish bombardments recently.

Turkey has not yet commented on the report.

At least one person was injured in a Turkish attack in the area last year, days after a similar attack took the lives of at least three people in Zirgan.

Rojava’s internal security forces (Asayish) have previously described Turkey’s offensives targeting northern Hasaka as “an attempt to displace the residents.”

Hundreds of families have left Zirgan district as Turkish airstrikes and bombardment spark fear in the residents, a conflict monitor reported at the beginning of the year.

Turkey has conducted three military operations in northern Syria since 2016, two of them against Kurdish fighters who Ankara considers a branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and a threat to its national security. It has been threatening a new offensive against Kurdish forces in Rojava in recent months.