Click to see full-size image. Source: the Hawar News Agency.
On August 23, a Turkish combat drone targeted a van carrying a group of journalists on a road controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) between the cities of al-Qamishli and al-Hasakah in the northeastern region of Syria.
A photo released by the Hawar News Agency, which is linked to the SDF, shows the van in an open field after it drifted from the road as a result of the drone strike.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the van driver was killed in the strike and one of the passengers was wounded.
According to the London-based monitoring group, this was the 37th Turkish drone strike to target SDF-held areas in northeastern Syria this year. Previous strikes killed 39 personnel of the SDF, three officials of the group’s administration, three Syrian soldiers and 12 civilians, including a child and two women.
Turkey stepped up its drone strikes against the SDF in recent weeks in what appears to be an attempt to deter the SDF without launching a new ground operation in northeastern Syria
Last year, Ankara threatened to launch a new invasion into the SDF territory. However, it faced objections not only from the United States, the main backer of the group, but also from the Syrian government and its top ally, Russia.
