Military strike: Türkiye carries out air strikes in northern Syria again

A week after an attack in Ankara, Turkey carried out air strikes again against Kurdish militias in Syria. The Defense Ministry in Ankara said the air force bombed oil facilities and shelters belonging to the Kurdish militia YPG late on Sunday evening. It also said that numerous fighters had been put out of action – a phrase that usually means that the fighters were killed. Turkey did not say exactly in which regions the air strikes took place.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Monday “intense” shelling overnight in northeastern Syria. The organization bases its information on information from local activists. At least 20 members of Kurdish police units close to the YPG were killed in the attacks. At least 50 others are said to have been injured, some seriously. Observers expect the death toll to continue to rise.

After the attack in Ankara

Ankara justifies the attacks in Syria that began on Thursday after the suicide bombing in Ankara with the right to self-defense. On October 1st, two police officers were injured and both attackers were killed. The banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK claimed responsibility for the attack. Turkey sees the YPG as an offshoot of the PKK and classifies both as terrorist organizations. The Turkish Air Force also repeatedly carries out air strikes against the PKK in northern Iraq, where it has its headquarters.

The Turkish military has carried out several military offensives in northern Syria since 2016, mainly targeting the YPG – and has occupied border regions in the neighboring country. In Europe and the USA, only the PKK is listed as a terrorist organization. The SDF, led by Kurdish militias, is a close ally of the USA in the fight against Islamist terrorists in Syria.