*Updated at 19:00 CET
A Turkish drone targeted a rehabilitation centre for wounded fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Qamishli (Qamişlo) in northeast Syria on Sunday, causing serious injuries and killing two commanders of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ).
An official at the North and East Syria’s Federal Centre for the War-Wounded, which has been operating since 2020 and is dedicated to helping those injured in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), confirmed the attack to the North Press Agency. Footage from the scene shows pools of blood in and outside the building.
The rehabilitation centre released a statement strongly condemning the attack. The statement highlighted the courage of the war wounded, who have made great sacrifices for the fight against ISIS, defending human values against extremism.
Describing Turkey’s actions as ‘brutal’ and ‘fascist’, the centre criticised the silence of the international community on the matter, which it said implied tacit approval of the aggression. It accused Turkey of seeking to avenge the defeat of ISIS at the hands of Syrian Kurdish forces and of trying to undermine the morale and resolve of the war-wounded.
They vowed in their statement to step up the struggle against such attacks despite the various challenges, and called on the citizens of the world to stand in solidarity against the brutality of the Turkish state towards the autonomous Kurdish-led regions in Syria.
The all-female Syrian Kurdish militia, the YPJ, announced on Monday evening that two YPJ commanders had been killed in the attack.
In its statement, which strongly condemned the Turkish aggression, the YPJ described the attack as a deliberate targeting of the women’s freedom revolution and an act of political aggression driven by the Turkish government’s ideology of denial and destruction.