The Kurdish Centre for Studies (KCS), an independent, non-partisan research centre based in Germany, has conducted field research in northeastern Syria, documenting Turkey’s latest violations and calling for international accountability for these actions.
Turkey’s aggressive campaign against the Kurdish-led de-facto autonomous region of North and East Syria has targeted civilian infrastructure and resulted in significant loss of life, injuries and widespread disruption of essential services. The devastating impact of the Turkish military offensive, which began on 5 October, was highlighted in the KCS report.
“Our hope is that by displaying the widespread scope of these Turkish war crimes against civilian sites, the international community will demand accountability against the perpetrators ordering them in Ankara,” the research centre said.
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According to the report, the offensive resulted in the loss of nine civilians, including five in Kobani (Kobanê), three in Hasakah (Heseke) and one in Al-Qahtaniyah (Tirbespî), two of whom were women. Ten civilians were injured, including four children and three women. Turkish forces also bombed a security centre in the southern outskirts of Amuda (Amûdê), killing six members of the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) of the autonomous administration.
In one of the most devastating attacks, Turkey targeted the Internal Security Forces training centre in a village in Al-Malikiyah (Derik), killing 29 members of the anti-drug forces and injuring 28 others.
In addition to the loss of life, the attacks had a profound impact on essential infrastructure in several towns and cities. According to the KCS report, the Turkish military carried out numerous attacks on infrastructure and factories in Qamishli (Qamişlo), Hasakah, Shahba, Al-Malikiyah, Kobani, Manbij (Minbic) and the southern outskirts of Tell Abyad (Gire Spi). Key infrastructure targets included electricity, oil and gas stations.
In Al-Qahtaniyah, seven oil stations and wells were knocked out, as well as an electricity station and a grain warehouse, causing a complete blackout in the entire Aliyan area.
In Al-Malikiyah, the only gas station was bombed, causing a prolonged interruption in gas production. The electricity station in one village was knocked out by the Turkish attack. The Turkish military also completely destroyed the Covid hospital in the city of Al-Malikiyah, which served more than 100,000 people.
In Qamishli, the power station was also knocked out of service, while in Amuda, Turkish forces targeted the grain store and the power station, causing a blackout in the town. In Ain Issa (Bozanê), the water station, the electricity station and the grain warehouse were targeted. In al-Hasakah, the Turkish military bombed the electricity station, the water station, a construction factory and the Washokani camp, which houses IDPs from Ras al-Ayn (Serê Kaniyê). In Kobani, a paint factory was targeted and a hospital was completely destroyed.
The relentless attacks forced the Jazira Education Directorate (Cizîrê) to close 31 schools, affecting 4,039 children who were unable to attend classes due to the risk of Turkish attacks. Schools in several other regions were also closed, further disrupting the education of young people.
Turkey’s targeting of power stations also caused all water stations to stop operating, creating dire conditions for civilians. In addition, the Swediye gas plant in Al-Malikiyah, which supplies domestic gas and electricity to the whole of northern and eastern Syria, has been the target of repeated attacks by Turkish forces. These attacks disrupted both gas and electricity supplies, causing severe shortages and further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the region.
