At least one child killed by Turkish shelling in Kobane

Turkish shelling in Kobane, northeast Syria, has killed at least one child and hospitalised two civilians with severe injuries, North Press reported on Tuesday.

On Tuesday 16 August, Turkey intensified its attacks on the border areas, targeting Kobane and the countryside west of the city with heavy artillery and drone strikes.

Turkish shells struck Kobane city as well as the nearby Tell Tamr district and the northern countryside of Aleppo governorate on Tuesday morning, Hawar News reported.

Five high explosive artillery shells hit the neighbourhood of Martyr Bayman in Kobane as intensive artillery shelling fired from Turkey battered villages in the western countryside of the city, North Press reported.

Turkey’s continued shelling of neighbourhoods in Kobane and villages in the eastern and western countryside of the city has led to widespread panic among residents, North Press reported.

Residents of border neighbourhoods fled their areas and headed towards the city centre as a result of the Turkish shelling, the news agency said.

Artillery shelling and drone strikes against Syrian Kurds have now become a routine part of life in North and East Syria, where Turkey has launched a series of military offensives against the Kurdish-led autonomous administrations governing the region.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on 1 June his intention to create a “safe zone” to resettle refugees in the large swathe of northern Syria captured by the Turkish military in 2019’s Operation Olive Branch.

Although analysts say the Turkish government is still seeking a green light for a fresh operation from its international partners, it has continued to bombard targets in the region with artillery and drone strikes regardless.

Turkey’s increasing drone strikes in north and northeast Syria aim to destabilise security in the region, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) General Commander Mazloum Abdi said in late July.

Local press reports say Turkish forces have conducted more than 40 drone strikes against Syrian Kurds between June 2020 and July 2022.