Suspected Turkish drone strike kills one SDF in Rojava: monitor
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A week after the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was the target of a suspected Turkish drone strike in Sulaimani, another strike killed a senior SDF member in northeast Syria (Rojava) early Friday morning, according a conflict monitor.
A Turkish drone targeted a car in Qamishli near the border with Turkey, local media ANHA reported with a photograph of a mangled car.
ANHA did not report any casualties, but according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights an unnamed SDF commander was killed and his escort was injured and is being treated in hospital.
The SDF have not immediately commented on the reports.
According to the Observatory, this is the eleventh Turkish drone strike against Rojava this year, killing twelve people, including five civilians.
Turkey accuses the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, of being the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group struggling for Kurdish rights in Turkey and named a terror group by Ankara. The YPG denies the charge.
Last week, a drone strike targeted a convoy of American military personnel and SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi near Sulaimani airport in the Kurdistan Region. The drone “struck more than 100 meters from the convoy,” US Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a press briefing on Thursday. US Central Command (CENTCOM) is investigating.
Abdi and Iraqi officials have blamed Turkey, which has not publicly commented on the incident. Abdi has been the target of multiple attempts on his life by Turkey, he told Al Monitor last week.
The SDF and US military have been partners in the war against the Islamic State (ISIS). “We have a longstanding relationship with them. They are not the PKK,” Ryder said in the press briefing.
A Turkish drone targeted a car in Qamishli near the border with Turkey, local media ANHA reported with a photograph of a mangled car.
ANHA did not report any casualties, but according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights an unnamed SDF commander was killed and his escort was injured and is being treated in hospital.
The SDF have not immediately commented on the reports.
According to the Observatory, this is the eleventh Turkish drone strike against Rojava this year, killing twelve people, including five civilians.
Turkey accuses the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, of being the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group struggling for Kurdish rights in Turkey and named a terror group by Ankara. The YPG denies the charge.
Last week, a drone strike targeted a convoy of American military personnel and SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi near Sulaimani airport in the Kurdistan Region. The drone “struck more than 100 meters from the convoy,” US Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a press briefing on Thursday. US Central Command (CENTCOM) is investigating.
Abdi and Iraqi officials have blamed Turkey, which has not publicly commented on the incident. Abdi has been the target of multiple attempts on his life by Turkey, he told Al Monitor last week.
The SDF and US military have been partners in the war against the Islamic State (ISIS). “We have a longstanding relationship with them. They are not the PKK,” Ryder said in the press briefing.