Turkey has escalated airstrikes in North and East Syria over the past three days, targeting over 30 locations. The attacks primarily hit civilian infrastructure, such as electricity and oil facilities, leading to severe damage and fears of a humanitarian crisis. This marks the third significant airstrike campaign by Turkey in the area within the past three months.
The airstrikes on January 14 significantly impacted crucial electricity stations in Amuda (Amûdê), Qamishli (Qamişlo) North, Kobani (Kobanê), al-Qahtaniya (Tirbespi), and Ain Issa (Eyn Isa), resulting in widespread power outages. Additionally, Al-Khairat Mill in Amuda, a key flour production facility, was bombed, causing damages of 750 million Syrian pounds and halting operations for at least a month, affecting bread production and the livelihoods of over 20 families.
On January 15, a power station worker in al-Darbasiyah, Kabrin Hawass Al-Farhu, was injured by shrapnel while trying to extinguish a transformer fire caused by a Turkish drone attack. He is currently awaiting surgery in an Al-Hasakah (Heseke) hospital.
The Turkish attacks cut off electricity, water, gas and fuel supply to 2.5 million people in the Jazera Canton. This included the bombing of the Oda station in Tirbespiya and the Al-Swaydiya station in Rimelan, both critical for the region’s electricity, gas, and fuel supply. The massive destruction caused by these bombings has been captured on camera, showing extensive damage to these facilities, with some like the Oda station being 90 percent out of service.
Ziyad Rustem, co-chair of the Energy Office of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), described the targeting as systematic, aimed at depriving the population of electricity. These strikes have not only caused extensive infrastructure damage but also economic strain.
In a separate incident, a Turkish drone strike on a civilian house in Girbetli, al-Darbasiyah, injured a woman and her two children. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stated that these attacks have disrupted essential services, impacting hundreds of thousands of people and are considered blatant war crimes.
