Illustrative image, source: sdf-press.com
On September 17, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) raided several positions of the Turkish military and its proxies in the northern Raqqa countryside.
SDF fighters attacked the positions, which are located in the outskirt of the town of Ain Issa, in the early morning hours, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
“Clashes broke out between the two sides, resulting in dead and wounded in the ranks of the [Turkish-backed] Syrian National Army,” the monitoring group said in a report.
In what appears to be a response to the raids, Turkish forces shelled a number of SDF positions in the northern Raqqa countryside. Warplanes of the Turkish Air Force were also spotted in the sky of the region. However, no airstrikes were reported.
The SDF didn’t share any information about the raids in northern Raqqa. The Kurdish-led group doesn’t acknowledge its attacks on Turkish forces in northeast ern Syria.
Turkish forces occupied a large swath of land between northern Raqqa and al-Hasakah in October last year. The SDF fought fiercely, but the lack of any serious support forced the group to withdraw from many areas.
