Five injured in separate Turkish airstrikes in Rojava

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least five people were injured as a result of separate Turkish airstrikes in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Monday, amid rising tension between Turkey and Kurdish groups in the region.

Firat News Agency (ANF), a media outlet close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), reported that the Turkish army bombed a repair shop in the city of Kobane “using a reconnaissance plane,” resulting in the injury of two people.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based war monitor, also reported the attack, confirming the injury of the two individuals.

In a separate attack, Hawar News Agency (ANHA), a media outlet close to the Kurdish administration in Rojava, reported that at least three people were injured in three drone strikes targeting an industrial facility and a construction center in Qamishli. 

The Turkish defense ministry on Monday said that its airstrikes in Rojava and Kurdistan Region on Saturday night “neutralized” at least 26 members of the Kurdish groups. Turkey uses the term “neutralize” to denote adversaries captured, wounded, or killed.

The main battlefield in the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish army has moved out of Turkey’s borders and into the north of the Kurdistan Region where both the PKK and Turkish forces have recently increased their attacks on the other. Turkey also frequently targets Kurdish forces in Rojava which it says are offshoots of the PKK. Civilians are frequently caught in the crossfire.

Turkey 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,” after 12 of its soldiers were killed by the PKK in the Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdish-led Democratic Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (DAANES), which governs Rojava, denounced the Turkish airstrikes that targeted Rojava overnight, calling them a “continuation of Turkey’s series of genocide.” The administration 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.

According to SOHR, Turkey has carried out 107 air strikes on Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria since January, killing 86 people and injuring over 97 others.