A Bayraktar TB2 combat drone. Source: Baykar.
On July 27, a Turkish combat drone targeted two vehicles of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) between the towns of Khaznah and Tell Marouf in the northeastern countryside of Syria’s al-Hasakah.
In a statement, the security forces of the SDF said that three people were killed and two others were wounded as a result of the strikes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based pro-opposition monitoring group, said that the casualties were all fighters of the SDF.
In recent months, the Turkish military stepped up its drone strikes against the SDF in what appears to be an attempt to deter the group.
According to the SOHR, 28 Turkish drone strikes have hit SDF territory since the start of the year. The strikes killed 44 people, including 31 fighters of the group, three Syrian soldiers and ten civilians, some of whom were officials of the so-called autonomous administration.
The Turkish escalation against the SDF, which is backed by the United States, comes amid talks between Ankara and Damascus to restore relations. One of Ankara’s main demands is cooperation against the group, which it says is an affiliate of the terrorist-designated Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
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