Turkish forces kill 5 protesters, injure 40 others in Aleppo
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – Turkish forces opened fire on Monday on the protesters in the cities and towns of Aleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria, killing five protesters and injuring 40 others.
North Press correspondent reported that the Turkish forces killed at least five protesters and injured 25 others as an initial toll in the city of Afrin.
The correspondent added that the Turkish forces deliberately fired at the protesters to intimidate them.
North Press correspondent in the city of Azaz, northwestern Syria, said that the Turkish forces fired at the protesters who stormed Bab al-Salama border crossing, burned Turkish vehicles, and took down Turkish flags, injuring at least 15 protesters, including children.
The Turkish forces opened fire at the protesters who stormed a Turkish military post in the city of al-Atarib in the western countryside of Aleppo, as they used tear gas causing cases of suffocations.
The incidents took place after the people of the towns and cities of al-Bab, al-Rai, Azaz, al-Atarib and Afrin in Aleppo countryside took to the streets, blocked the roads, invaded Turkish institutions and fired Turkish officials in condemnation of the recent discrimination acts and racist attacks against Syrian refugees in the Turkish city of Kayseri.
With the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, and under the pretext of protecting its national security, Turkey, along with its affiliated armed opposition factions, who later became known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), has carried out three cross-border military operations in northern Syria.
The first operation dubbed “Euphrates Shield” resulted in the occupation of the cities of Azaz, al-Bab, and Jarablus in the north of Aleppo, in its second operation, Olive Branch, Turkey occupied the Kurdish-majority region of Afrin in the northwest countryside of Aleppo in 2018, and in its third operation, Peace Spring, Turkey occupied the border strip stretching between the cities of Tel Abyad and Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) in Northeast Syria in 2019. These operations resulted in large-scale displacement and violations and abuses of human rights and international law, according to human rights reports.