On July 31, an indirect fire attack targeted a base of the Turkish military located near the town of Sufan in the northern countryside of Syria’s Raqqa.
According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attack wounded four Turkish soldiers and five Syrian militants. The wounded were taken to hospitals in southern Turkey. Some of them are reportedly in a critical condition.
This was the third Turkish base in Syria to be targeted with indirect fire this week. On July 24, a base located near the town of Jelbar in the northern countryside of Aleppo was targeted. The attack didn’t result in any casualties. Later on July 26, a base in the outskirts of the town of Kaljibrin, also located in the northern Aleppo countryside, came under attack. This time, three Turkish soldiers were killed and several others were wounded.
The previous attacks were claimed by the Afrin Liberation Forces, a Kurdish guerilla group that is reportedly a proxy of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Syrian opposition news sources have already blamed the SDF for the attack on Sufan base. The Kurdish-led group is yet to address these accusations.
The recent attacks on Turkish bases were likely a response to a series of Turkish drone strikes which claimed the lives of several commanders and fighters of the SDF and its security service, the Asayish. On July 28, four personnel of the Asayish were killed when a drone strike targeted their vehicle near the town of Ain Issa in the northern Raqqa countryside.
The current escalation between the SDF and Turkish forces began in May, when the latter began preparing to launch a new military operation in northern and northeastern Syria.
Source: South Front
