Image: aa.com.tr
Late on July 29, the Turkish military and its Syrian proxies shelled several towns in the northern al-Hasakah countryside for unclear reasons.
The artillery strikes targeted the towns of Tell Tamr and al-Tawilah as well as villages located near the M4 highway. The strategic highway, which was reopened by Russian forces last May, links al-Hasakah with Raqqa and Aleppo.
“There has been no information on any human losses [as a result of the shelling], thus far,” the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a report.
The Turkish military and its Syrian proxies invaded northeastern Syria in October 2019. Turkish forces occupied a long strip of land between al-Hasakah and Raqqa within a few weeks. The SDF lost dozens of towns and villages, including Ras al-Ain and Tell Abyad.
Despite the presence of de-escalation agreements with both Russia and the U.S, Turkish forces stepped up their attacks in northeastern Syria this month.
On July 5, Turkish forces targeted a truck on the highway with a shell. The truck was completely destroyed and its driver was injured. On July 22, another truck was targeted and the driver was also injured.
These hostile acts could lead to a dangerous escalation in northeastern Syria. Ankara does not respect the agreement with Russia and the U.S.
“Reason” is very clear…They did it because they can.
Reason is that militants try to move on the M4 highway. Whole purpose of the operation last October was to prevent YPG/SDF/PKK militants moving along Turkish border to attack the border posts from much farther locations.
When did kurdish militants coming from Syria launched attacks against the Turkish borders ? They have been quiet since adana agreement, that was 2 decades ago.
Spot on, Erdogan constantly lies about YPG complicity with the PKK. Last year Putin tried to help Erdogan reinstate the old Adana protocols but Assad refused, he said the Turks were already permanently occupying Syrian territory and breaking the existing agreement rules, so they couldn’t be reinstated, not unless the Turks moved out first.
If you say so. My hunch is that you just want to kill as many of them as possible