This week in Northern Syria (XXIa)
This week in Northern Syria (XXIa)
Covering Turkish attacks on northern Syria and related events from November 22nd and 23rd
Given all that’s gone on in the past week and a half I’ve split this newsletter in two for digestibility’s sake. This issue covers the events of November 22nd and 23rd while the second half, to be published later today, will cover November 24th to the 28th.
Events
11/22/22
A joint SDF-Coalition base in western al-Hasakah governorate was targeted by a Turkish drone strike, killing two members of the SDF’s Anti-Terror Units (YAT) and wounding three others. According to reporting by Al-Monitor’s Amberin Zaman and Jared Szuba, the joint base targeted is the site SDF Commander in Chief Mazloum ‘Abdi’s (interviewed by Zaman in the link above) main headquarters and is located near the village of Shamoukah - where four teenage girls were killed by a Turkish drone strike earlier this year. In May 2020 SOHR published roadside photographs of the coalition base (36.590054, 40.585572) in question, referring to the location as “Istrahat Wazir.”
Turkish drones targeted oil infrastructure in the al-Qahtaniyah/Tirbespî area of northeastern al-Hasakah governorate, striking the ‘Awdah oil field and another facility near the village of Laylan.
Turkish aircraft reportedly raided the village of al-Makman multiple times, striking unknown targets. These attacks struck unprecedentedly deep within Syria, as Al-Maksim is located approximately 72km from the border, on the al-Hasakah/al-Raqqah highway within Deir ez-Zour governorate.
A school in the Kobanî village of Kuran, located on the border directly across from a Turkish Jandarma outpost, was destroyed overnight by a Turkish airstrike. Location: 36.779872, 38.618617
Turkish Jandarma outpost and border wall visible in the background (source) Five civilians died in a rocket attack on A’zaz city, carried out by either SDF of regime forces based in al-Shahba’.
For more information on Turkish air raids and artillery strikes occurring on November 22, see reports published by the SDF and by RIC.
11/23/22
Turkish airstrikes reportedly targeted security sites in the vicinity of al-Hawl camp, killing eight members of the SDF’s Commando Forces. According to North Press Agency the site targeted was “al-Tawghji” oil field (so far I’ve been unable to find the location), several kilometers from the camp itself.
Turkey continued to strike oil infrastructure around northeastern Syria, wounding at least six civilians (According to RIC this included two engineers and four other oil workers).
A Turkish drone strike targeted a truck on the western side of al-Qamishli city, wounded several individuals. According to Turkish and opposition media, high ranking YPG commander Rezan Gelo was injured in the attack though this has not been confirmed by the SDF.
A joint Russian-SDF site in the frontline al-Hasakah town of Tell Tamer was hit by either Turkish shelling or a drone strike (conflicting reports), reportedly killing one SDF fighter and wounding several others. Two hours later local media reported that Russian forces had temporarily vacated a base in the town prior to a Turkish attack - pointing to the deconfliction measures in place between Turkey and Russia. It’s unclear whether these reports referred to the earlier attack or another one.
#الحسكة أخلت القوات الروسية قاعدتها الواقعة بحي الحمرة شمال ناحية تل تمر، قبيل استهداف الجيش التركي للنقطة المشتركة بينها وبين قسد في تل تمر، لتعود مرة أخرى بعد القصف
Geolocation of Russian military vehicles seen in two images above: 36.662444, 40.372880 For more information on Turkish air raids and artillery strikes occurring on November 23, see the report published by RIC.
Other
I’ve been tracking SDF and SNA combatant deaths related to this recent escalation in a separate post:
Map by Nathan Ruser of locations struck by Turkish air strikes and artillery bombardment as of November 23rd. Note: Turkish base information supplied is incomplete, missing numerous locations on al-Shahba’ fronts.
Images published by Efrin News 24 showing regime armor facing west towards Afrin, hidden within dilapidated buildings near al-Faisal Mill in al-Shahba’.
Dutch NGO PAX for Peace published a report on drone usage in Syria, covering the activities of state and non-state actors as well as the use of military and commercial drones. It really highlights the pandora’s box that has been the US’s drone assassination campaign within the context of the War on Terror. Obviously the Turkish portion of the report is highly pertinent to this week’s events:
Turkey has so far not released any legal position that justifies the use of lethal force outside of an armed conflict, nor did it provide compensation to families of civilians who were killed or wounded. This concerning development seems to be building upon the absence of strong international pushback against the US’s drone wars, which caused thousands of civilian casualties but at the same time lacked transparency or clear accountability mechanisms and were conducted under tenacious interpretations of international legal frameworks. Activists and human rights campaigners have long warned that the lack of response to this could open the door for other states to use drones in a similar way, and the current Turkish operations in Syria (and northern Iraq) clearly vindicate these concerns.
More on Turkey’s air war in Syria:
