The Turkish military have built an observation tower near the town of Ain Issa in the northern countryside of Syria’s Raqqa, the Ronahi TV reported on January 17.
The tower was built in a Turkish post that was established two weeks ago. The post is located 3 km to the north of Ain Issa, which is held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The post was the second to be built in the region in the last few months.
According to Rohnahi, Turkish forces will use the tower to monitor the M4 highway, which links Raqqa with al-Hasakah and Aleppo, as well as Ain Issa and its outskirts.
A number of Kurdish sources said radar, surveillance and thermal-optical systems were deployed in the post before the tower was built.
Click to see full-size image. Source: ronahi.tv
The Turkish military and its proxies launched several attacks on SDF positions around Ain Issa in the last two months. All the attacks were repelled. However, the recent developments indicate that Ankara is not backing down.
Last year, Russia reportedly warned the SDF of a Turkish plan to occupy Ain Issa and asked the group to hand the town over to Syrian government forces to protect it. The group rejected the Russian request.
A large-scale Turkish attack on Ain Issa will force the SDF to make painful concessions, either to Turkey or Russia. The group’s backers in Washington seem to be careless about the situation in northern Raqqa.
Thats a good target for a 155mm Howitzer shell.