Syria
Smokes billows in Qamishli in northeastern Syria close to the Turkish border, amid Turkish military strikes in the area on December 25, 2023. Photo: Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Suspected Turkish artillery fire on Saturday injured three people, including a child, in northern Syria, a war monitor reported.
Turkish artillery shells hit civilian homes in the village of al-Tukhar, northeast of Manbij, injuring three people, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor.
One of the injured was a 14-year-old child, according to Hawar News Agency (ANHA), a media outlet affiliated with the Kurdish-led authorities of northeast Syria (Rojava).
The Turkish defense ministry has not commented on the incident.
Turkey frequently targets Kurdish forces controlling Rojava on the grounds that they are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls northeastern Syria, denies ties with the armed group.
In December, Turkey launched a wave of airstrikes on Rojava after 12 of its soldiers were killed in the Kurdistan Region by the PKK. The local authorities said that more than 2,600 villages were left in complete darkness as a result of Turkish airstrikes targeting power stations. Oil fields, refineries, and hospitals were also among the key targets of the Turkish army.
In mid-January, the Turkish military resumed its strikes. The SDF stated on January 14 that Ankara’s strikes “constitute blatant and deliberate war crimes aimed at causing maximum harm to the lives of civilians, instilling fear, and inflicting suffering on their daily existence.”
In February, Human Rights Watch called for urgent action to address water, fuel, and health care crises that have resulted from the Turkish airstrikes and said Ankara must stop targeting critical civilian infrastructure.
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