This week in Northern Syria (VII)
This week in Northern Syria (VII)
A rundown of key events from Turkish/SNA & SDF-controlled territories
Events
08/16/22: At least seven combatants and civilians were killed in cross-border shelling and rocket fire between the SDF and Syrian regime on one side and the Turkish military on the other. It appears that the former initiated the clashes with a barrage targeting Turkish positions in the Karkamış and Çiçekalan areas around 10AM local time. This included an SDF ATGM strike on a Turkish T-155 howitzer at the Çiçekalan border outpost that reported killed two Turkish soldiers and wounded three others.
Still from an SDF video of the ATGM strike published two days. Angle of the shadows show it to have occurred in the morning. 
T-155’s stationed at the Çiçekalan outpost, located at 36.878156, 38.058315 The Turkish military shelled Kobanî and other locations under AANES control reportedly killing a twelve year old child in the village of Zorava and injuring five other civilians. Notably, a Turkish airstrike targeted a Syrian regime outpost near the village of Jaraqli in the Kobanî countryside, killing at least four regime soldiers and wounding several others.
08/16/22: Turkey security sources identified an SDF member killed south of al-Qamishli in an August 10th drone as veteran PKK cadre Dijwar Silopi (referring to a city in Bakur/SE Turkey), or ‘Muhsîn Yagan,’ to state-run Anadolu News. The SDF had previously identified the man by the name Dijwar Kobanî. Sources claimed he was part of the PKK since the 1990s, operating in both Turkey and Iraq, and was responsible for recent attacks along the Turkish-Syrian border. This information has not been corroborated by the PKK.
08/16/22: Five SDF fighters were killed in a Turkish drone strike targeting a position in the town of Sanjaq Sa‘doun, just south of ‘Amuda.
08/18/22: A Turkish drone strike killed four teenage girls and wounded 11 others at a UN-linked educational center established for demobilized minors in the al-Hasakah village of Shamoukah. The victims had previously been members of the YPJ, allegedly in non-combat roles.
On August 18th, a Turkish drone strike on a UN-affiliated children’s educational center killed 4 girls and injured 11. Rania Eta, Zozan Zedan, Dilan Ezedin, and Diyana Elo were killed whilst playing volleyball outside.
The Commanding General of the anti-Islamic State Coalition put out a statement condemning the attack though he predictably failed to name the actor responsible.
08/18/22: Russian state media RusVesna published two videos filmed from RuAF aircraft showing US/Coalition bases in northeast Syria. One is of the base in Hemo, outside al-Qamishli, where AFV’s and SDF members undergoing training are visible. The other video shows Ka-52’s firing flares while flying over a base just south of Dêrik.
US base in Hemo, located at 37.061438, 41.157009 
Armored Fighting Vehicles 
SDF members undergoing training 
US base in Dêrik, located at 37.154367, 42.149770 
Decoy flares fired from a Russian Ka-52 08/19/22: A barrage of Grad rockets fired territory controlled by the regime and the SDF struck the city of al-Bab, killing 15 civilians and wounding 30 others. Five children were killed in the attack and 11 more were wounded. The rockets struck a school, a market, and a number of civilian homes. An image taken around the time of the attack from Jabal ‘Aqil just west of the city shows atleast five plumes of smoke.
(source) 
geolocation of two Grad rocket impacts in al-Bab google.com/maps?ll=36.370… apparently fired from west of the city
As a preliminary outcome, 9 civilians, including women and children, were killed, and about 35 civilians were wounded, as a result of joint missile shelling by the "SDF" and the Assad regime, which targeted a popular market in the city of "Al-Bab", east of Aleppo Governorate. https://t.co/AZWR9oyX8K
Mohamad Rasheed محمد رشيد @mohmad_rasheedAccording to Syrian Civil Defence, al-Bab was hit by 64 artillery and missile attacks in 2021, resulting in 24 dead and 82 wounded. Given the fact that regime forces and the SDF operate in the same nearby areas and use similar weaponry, it is impossible to determine which actor is responsible for these attacks. Interestingly, while Turkish and opposition media typically blame the SDF for such, this attack was largely blamed on regime forces (stationed at al-Sha‘alah radar base) by a host of opposition actors. For example, a statement by the Turkish-backed Syrian Islamic Council used it as further evidence for why reconciliation with the regime is not possible, additionally adding that the attack is proof that Turkish-controlled areas are not safe for Turkey’s “voluntary return” policy of refugee deportation. SNA factions responded by targeting regime and SDF positions in the vicinity of al-Bab with Grad rockets and mortars.
08/19/22: Turkish President Erdoğan told reporters that Turkey is not seeking the defeat of Bashar al-Asad but “to find a political solution” to the conflict, holding that “Ankara's main contention is the fight against terrorism in northern Syria.” Furthermore, with regards to relations with Damascus, the Turkish president told reporters that “political dialogue or diplomacy cannot be cut off between states.” Referencing the YPG/SDF and apparently the Islamic State, Erdoğan said:
"It is the U.S. and coalition forces that primarily feed terrorism in Syria. They did it brutally and they still do it. They did not get tired of it, and they also did the same in Iraq. To whom? Again to terrorist organizations. If there is unrest in Iraq today, unfortunately, America lies behind it…"
The same day Interior Minister Soylu told Turkish TV that 3.2 million Syrians reside in Turkey and that “517,000 Syrians have ‘voluntarily’ returned to Syria so far.” In order to facilitate further return (which often times means forcible deportation), Turkey plans on building 200,000 houses across northern Syria. According to Soylu, 62,000 such houses have been built in Idlib, while an unknown amount (significantly smaller) have been built in Afrin and the Euphrates Shield region.
08/21/22: Protests occurred in several locations throughout AANES-controlled Deir ez-Zour, due to both local grievances and general anger at the “poor living conditions…the deteriorating security situation…[and] arbitrary arrests.” Protests and unrest appear to be increasing common in the region, though it’s a topic I personally find difficult to get a read on due to the highly polarized media environment. In addition to widespread unrest, it appears that the region is experiencing large scale emigration, with many youths turning to smugglers in hopes of getting to Turkey and eventually Europe.
08/21/22: Opposition media reported an SDF commander was assassinated by gunfire while driving on the outskirts of al-Qamishli. The attack allegedly took place near the village of Nafkur, in the vicinity of several SDF and a coalition bases. These reports have not been corroborated in SDF media.
Other
Byzantine ruins on the banks of the Euphrates, now visible due to low water levels
geolocation of some Byzantine/Roman era tombs in the Euphrates river valley east of Manbij google.com/maps?ll=36.500… partially submerged in the Tishrin dam reservoir
Syria: lowering water level of Euphrates didn't reveal Hunger Stones like in Europe, but a Roman/Byzantine graveyard dug out in the rock. Site located in W. Raqqa province. https://t.co/dteZBVdscI
QalaatM @QalaatMNewly constructed building in Ras al-’Ain/Serê Kaniyê that appears to be a prison. It’s clearly a fortified compound surrounded by blast walls and guard towers, meaning most likely either a prison or a Turkish military base. I’ve yet to see a photograph from the ground, but did find the plot partially labeled “The Martyr Muhammed Mh…/…الشهيد محمد مح” in an image from the city’s Local Council.
(source)
Rojava Information Center has put out a report detailing Turkish drone strikes and shelling on northeastern Syria since the mid-July Tehran conference between Presidents Putin, Erdoğan, and Raisi.