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Syria
Members of Syria's Civil Defence service (White Helmets) sift through the rubble at al-Shifaa hospital following shelling of the rebel-held city of Afrin in northern Syria, on June 12, 2021. Photo: Bakr Alkasem/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) rejected on Monday an accusation from Turkey’s president that their forces were behind a deadly attack on Afrin city, including a hospital, this weekend. It condemned the attack, saying they never target civilians.
“Our forces have never targeted civilians and we are firmly opposed to any military method risking civilian lives and infrastructure in conflict zones,” the YPG stated.
Before taking off for Brussels to meet NATO leaders, Erdogan told reporters at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul on Sunday that the YPG was behind a Saturday attack on Shifa Hospital in Afrin, reported the state-owned TRT World.
Twenty-one people were killed, 17 of them civilians, including children, and 23 others were injured in shelling of Afrin city and the hospital on Saturday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Four hospital staff members are among the dead. The artillery fire reportedly originated from northern Aleppo province where regime-backed militias and Kurdish forces are located in close proximity to each other.
The YPG called Erdogan’s claim “unfounded” and condemned the attack.
Horrific scenes from yesterday's tragic day in #Afrin City in #Aleppo. 15 people lost their lives, including women, children, and medical workers. Once again, the humanitarian workers in #Syria are under direct attack. #NotATarget pic.twitter.com/jGFmK0Xq5R
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) June 13, 2021
Afrin is a Kurdish-majority region in Syria’s northwest. The YPG took control of the area after regime forces re-deployed to defend Arab-majority areas against rebels after the start of the uprising in 2011.
Turkey and its Syrian proxies invaded Afrin in March 2018, forcing hundreds of thousands of people – mostly Kurds – to flee to other areas controlled by the YPG, especially Shahba, north of Aleppo.
The YPG and other armed Kurdish groups affiliated with it have fought the Turkish-backed militias in Afrin since losing the territory. Turkey has blamed several deadly explosions in the city on the YPG.
“We have been waging a great struggle against invasion and terrorism inflicted on civilians by the Turkish government itself in Syria over the course of years. We once again affirm that protecting civilians will remain our priority in any conflict at all costs, just as it has been since the beginning of our struggle,” added the statement from the YPG, which is backbone of the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The multi-ethnic SDF also denied any involvement in the attack, claiming on Sunday that Turkey’s proxies were behind this “dirty attempt to cover up the real criminals.”
The SDF’s general commander Mazloum Abdi condemned the attack, tweeting “Targeting hospitals is a violation of international law.”
The attack has also been condemned by the US, European Union and the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
“This attack is a serious breach of International Humanitarian Law, especially since the coordinates of the hospital had been shared by the United Nations,” read a statement from a spokesperson for the EU on Monday.
Ned Price, spokesperson for the US Department of State, said on Sunday that, “This barbaric attack took the lives of children, medical staff, and first responders. Civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, must never be the target of military action.”
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