Turkish forces continued to attack Kurdish-led areas in northeastern Syria over the weekend after assaults on the region intensified last week. On Sunday, heavy artillery shelled the northern countryside of Hasakah (Heseke), raising concerns about the safety of resident civilians.
Two artillery shells struck a village north of Hasakah and damaged infrastructure in the area, though no human casualties were sustained, reported Syrian news agency North Press.
In a separate attack on Sunday, Turkish shelling ignited an arable field in the area, destroying approximately two hectares (five acres) of wheat crop before firefighters and locals managed to get the blaze under control.
Turkish shelling frequently targets villages such as these located on the frontlines between Turkey-backed armed opposition factions, known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), and the Tel Tamr (Til Temir) Military Council, an affiliate of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Turkey’s intensified attacks are a show of aggression in response to a recent announcement made by the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s (AANES) that it will put thousands of foreign fighters captured from the Islamic State (ISIS) through public trials, said prominent Syrian Kurdish leader Salih Muslim.
Turkey’s collaboration with ISIS will be exposed if members of the fundamentalist group are tried in an open and transparent way, explained Muslim, co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the AANES’s main party.