Turkish drone strikes in northeastern Syria on Friday night killed four U.S.-backed fighters and wounded 11 civilians, the Kurdish-led force said.
The attacks on areas controlled by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces came a day after Turkey's president said his government would not hesitate to act against Kurdish-led groups in the north. of Syria if they went ahead with their plans to hold local elections. He accuses the groups of having links to illegal Kurdish militants in Türkiye.
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The SDF said the drone strikes hit its positions eight times, as well as civilian homes and vehicles in and near the northern city of Qamishli. These Turkish attacks are not uncommon in northeastern Syria.
The Kurdish Red Crescent said that while its paramedics were trying to reach the attacked areas, a Turkish attack hit one of its ambulances, knocking it out of service. He said the attack occurred near the town of Amouda, west of Qamishli.
A US-backed force in Syria says Turkish drone strikes in northeastern Syria killed four Kurdish fighters and wounded 11 civilians. (Fox News Digital)
There was no immediate comment from Türkiye.
The Kurdish-led autonomous administration that controls northern and eastern Syria has announced plans to hold municipal elections on June 11. Voting to elect mayors will take place in the provinces of Hassakeh, Raqqa, Deir el-Zour and the eastern part of Aleppo. province.
On Friday, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel posted on X that “we do not believe the conditions for such elections currently exist in northeastern Syria.”
The comments appeared to be a message to the Kurdish-led authorities not to hold elections.
Turkey, which has carried out military operations in Syria in the past, sees the move as a step by Syrian Kurdish militants toward creating an independent Kurdish entity across its border. He has described the planned elections as a threat to the territorial integrity of both Syria and Turkey.
“We closely follow the aggressive actions of the terrorist organization against the territorial integrity of our country and Syria under the pretext of elections,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday.
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Turkey considers the Kurdish militia, known as the People's Protection Units, a terrorist group linked to an outlawed Kurdish group that has led an insurgency in Turkey since 1984. That conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party has killed tens of thousands. of people.
The Popular Protection Units form the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are a key ally of the United States in the fight against the Islamic State group. US support for the SDF has angered Turkey and remains a major source of friction in their relations.
