The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Friday that they had conducted military operations against Turkish bases in regions in the north and northeast of Syria, resulting in casualties among Turkish soldiers.
The SDF’s actions came in response to a series of drone strikes launched by the Turkish military on infrastructure in numerous areas of North and East Syria.
The Turkish attacks have been targeting mainly civilian infrastructure in the region, including power plants, oil fields and hospitals. Residential villages have also been subjected to heavy bombardment. The attacks were initiated following a statement by Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, in which he threatened to broaden the scope of Turkish military aggression in Syria and Iraq.
The SDF stressed that these Turkish government attacks impacted the entire Syrian territory and all its diverse ethnic groups, including Arabs and Assyrians as well as Kurds. They also contended that the Turkish government was supporting the Islamic State (ISIS) and assisting in its revival, posing a grave threat both to the region and to the global community.
They said that their own operations were targeting Turkish bases located south of the city of Ras al-Ayn (Serê Kaniyê) in northeast Syria, as well as positions to the north and west of the town of Ayn Issa in the district of Tell Abyad (Girê Spî).
The exact number of casualties among Turkish soldiers has not been disclosed, but the SDF said that several Turkish troops had been killed and injured as a result of their retaliatory actions.
