Turkey has escalated its offensive in northern Syria with a deadly double attack on Wednesday, targeting a peaceful protest at the Tishreen Dam. A convoy of civilians heading to the site was hit, killing one and injuring four. Hours later, Turkish shelling directly struck the dam, killing three civilians guarding the critical infrastructure and wounding at least seven, two of whom remain in critical condition.
This marks the fifth attack on civilians near or at the Tishreen Dam since 8 January, as the sit-in protest enters its second week. Turkish planes have continued their bombardments just metres from the site, with three civilians killed last week while en route to the demonstration, including an ambulance strike. Residents of North and East Syria have united to protect the critical infrastructure from ongoing assaults by the Turkish military and Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), while also raising international awareness of the regional risks posed by a potential dam collapse.
At least 365 SNA mercenaries have been killed and many more wounded in the intense clashes around the dam and the nearby Qara Quzak (Qere Qozaq) Bridge in the 38 days since assault on the dam started on 8 December, ANHA reported. Meanwhile, at least 81 Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters have died defending against the attacks. Kurdish journalists Nazim Daştan and Cîhan Bilgin were also killed in a Turkish drone strike on 19 December while reporting on the latest situation around the Tishreen Dam.
The Turkish army and the SNA have also continued their attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure elsewhere in North and East Syria since clashes escalated last month, killing at least 49 civilians and the injuring dozens more. Despite the dangers, new groups from various regions of North and East Syria continue to arrive at the Tishreen Dam to join the protest. The morale among those keeping vigil remains high, as footage show participants singing Kurdish and Arabic resistance songs and performing traditional dances on the dam.
In a video released last night, SDF commanders stationed around the dam were seen delivering their daily situation reports, followed by a message from a Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) commander, relayed via walkie-talkie to the protesters. She declared, “This is the war our friends are waging now. And we welcome our people. The war being waged now is being waged with strength our friends draw from the people!” The crowd erupted in chants of “Long live SDF resistance!”
