After emptying three villages, Turkish forces establish military base in Tal Tamr countryside

Tal Tamr – North-Press Agency
Delsoz Youssef

On Monday, Turkish forces began building a new military base in the countryside of Abu Rasin (Zargan) in the Tal Tamr district, 40 km north of Hasakah, after emptying three villages in the area and bulldozing dozens of houses.

A local source told North-Press that a week ago, Turkish forces and their affiliated armed opposition groups told residents of the villages of Aniq al-Hawa and Um Ishba, which are under their control in the countryside of Abu Rasin (Zargan), to evacuate their houses, displacing them to the areas under Syrian government control.

The source indicated that bulldozers were seen several days ago entering the villages of Daoudia, Malla Salman and Aniq al-Hawa, demolishing dozens of civilian homes. They then brought drilling equipment and prefabricated rooms to the village of Aniq al-Hawa in order to establish a new military base in the area before evacuating the surrounding villages.

Turkish forces had previously converted the former Global Coalition base in the village of Tal Arqam, 10km west of the city of Sere-Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), into a military base.

The rural areas of Tal Tamr and Abu Rasin (Zargan), which are populated civilian areas, are subjected to constant mortar and artillery shelling by Turkish forces and armed opposition groups.