Smokes billows in Qamishli in northeastern Syria close to the Turkish border on December 25, 2023, amid Turkish military strikes in the area. (By AFP)
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says at least nine civilians, including five children, have lost their lives when Turkish warplanes carried out an attack on an area in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah.
The Britain-based monitoring group said the airstrike hit the home of a farming family in an area between the villages of Qomji and Barkh Botan, south of the Kurdish-populated town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, on Monday.
The aerial attack also left two people seriously injured, who were rushed to hospital for treatment.
The Observatory for Human Rights strongly condemned the deadly airstrike, urging the Turkish government to “immediately halt the killing of Syrian civilians and its military offensives in northern Syria.”
It called the latest Turkish attacks “unprecedented,” as Ankara seeks to impose a new reality on the ground amidst increasing international calls for the cessation of hostilities.
The SOHR said 651 combatants and civilians have been killed in Turkish shelling, airstrikes and clashes between the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkish-backed militants since the beginning of military escalation in Manbij city and countryside on December 12, 2024.
On March 13, the Turkish military resumed airstrikes on SDF positions near the Tishrin Dam, just one day after an agreement was announced between commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces Mazloum Abdi and Syria’s de facto leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
The move suggested a reversal of the agreement, and signaled Ankara's dissatisfaction with its terms.
According to Kurdish sources, Turkey views itself as a party harmed by the agreement, as it granted clear local recognition to the SDF and acknowledged their role in Syria’s political system.
They further explained that “Ankara reviewed the accord but was dissatisfied with much of its details.”
