Turkiye bombs US-proxies in northeast Syria following Ankara 'terror attack'
Turkish officials blamed the attack at the state-owned defense company on Kurdish militants affiliated with the PKK
Turkiye conducted several airstrikes and artillery shelling across US-controlled north and east Syria late on 23 October, targeting positions held by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The attacks targeted several villages and sites in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Raqqa, and Hasakah. One of the attacks hit an SDF military outpost in the countryside of the city of Al-Malikiyah, at the Syrian–Turkish–Iraqi tri-border region. Turkish artillery also hit SDF sites in the village of Umm al-Kaif in the countryside of the town of Tal Tamr, northwest of Hasakah.
According to field sources who spoke with Sputnik, Turkish artillery shelling hit the villages of Al-Sayyada, Aoun Al-Dadat, Al-Tukhar, and Al-Daraj.
On Thursday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reportedthat the attacks killed at least “27 members of military formations operating in SDF-controlled areas,” three soldiers from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), and at least four civilians.
For its part, Turkiye's Ministry of National Defence said 32 targets in Syria and Iraq were “destroyed” in the aerial offensive without providing details on the locations that were hit. Officials added that “all kinds of precautions” were taken to prevent harm to civilians.
The intense attacks were launched hours after armed assailants set off explosives and opened fire at the headquarters of the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) in Ankara, which designs, manufactures, and assembles civilian and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and other defense industry and space systems.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and Defense Minister Yasar Guler accused the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) of being behind the attack,
“We give these PKK scoundrels the punishment they deserve every time. But they never come to their senses,” Guler said. “We will pursue them until the last terrorist is eliminated.”
At least five people were killed and 22 injured in the attack. Two attackers – a man and a woman – were also killed.
Turkiye regularly conducts air strikes against the PKK in Iraq and against the SDF in Syria.
In 2014, the US military began partnering with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), an offshoot of the PKK. The YPG later changed its name to the SDF.
Together, the US and its Kurdish proxies occupy Syria’s northeast, including Hasakah, Raqqa, and parts of Deir Ezzor, denying Syria access to its oil resources and wheat-producing agricultural land.
Wednesday's attack in Ankara came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in the Russian city of Kazan to attend the annual BRICS summit. He condemned the “hateful attack” alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.