After 12 Turkish soldiers were killed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region in 24 hours, Turkey said it carried out airstrikes on 29 targets in northern Iraq and Syria on Saturday evening targeting “caves, shelters, oil facilities and warehouses, which were considered to contain terrorists at a high level.”
The Democratic Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (DAANES), which governs Rojava, said that the strikes had targeted several oil sites and “vital and service facilities” in the countryside of Derik (al-Malikiyah) and Tirbespi (al-Qahtaniyah), stating that the attacks obstruct the efforts made in combating Islamic State (ISIS) remnants.
“While we… affirm our complete rejection of these attacks which increase human and economic suffering, we also affirm that the negative impact of these attacks do not stop at our areas only, but rather they have repercussions throughout the region and are a large part of the series of genocide against our people and all Syrian regions, especially those occupied by Turkey,” read a statement from AANES.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the strikes had targeted infrastructure of areas under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including power and oil and gas facilities in the countryside of Hasaka, putting them out of service.
Most of the villages in Derik, Tirbespi, and Cil Axa (al-Jawadiyah) experienced blackouts on account of the strikes, according to the war monitor.
The Rojava administration called on “all forces keen on achieving and preserving stability” to take deterrent positions against the “unjustified” attacks and urged the UN and human rights organizations to form fact-finding committees to document the Turkish strikes and targeting of facilities “which serve the people” in Syria.
The Turkish defense ministry said its Saturday evening airstrikes were “self-defense” with the goal of ending “terrorist attacks” and securing its borders. It also claimed to take precautions to avoid harming civilians or the environment.
Both the PKK and Turkey have recently increased their attacks on the other in the Kurdistan Region. Turkey also frequently carries out attacks on groups in Rojava that it believes are PKK offshoots.
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