Turkish bombardment on Afrin and Aleppo’s northern countryside continues despite calls for ceasefire
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Syria’s northern countryside of Aleppo and Afrin city were subjected to almost daily bombardment in August by Turkish forces and their affiliated armed groups.
North Press was able to document 19 attacks with mortars, heavy machine guns, and artillery by Turkish-backed armed groups belonging to the Syrian National Army (SNA, a coalition of Turkish-backed Syrian opposition groups) on villages near the town of Sherawa, southern Afrin, and areas in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
The targeting of Sherawa focused on the villages of Mayasa, Zuq al-Kabeer, Burj al-Qas, Zornayit and Kalota.
Meanwhile, the villages of Maraanaz, al-Malikiyah, al-Shawargha, Tat Marsh, Ain Daqna, Sheikh Issa, Baylouneh, Teb, Meng, al-Alqamiyyah, and Tal Rifaat area in the northern countryside of Aleppo were mortared.
In August, Turkish shelling caused material damage to civilian property, including houses, damaging and agricultural fields and starting fires in the forest of Soghana village of Sherawa district, south of Afrin, and reconnaissance aircraft continued flying over these areas.
The most violent attacks took place on August 22 and 24, when they attacked the village of Maranaz in the northern countryside of Aleppo with 22 mortar shells, causing damage to civilian property.
The villages of Shawarga, al-Malikiyah and Ain Daqna were also targeted with DShK weapons, while three mortar shells fell in the area between Tel Rifaat and Sheikh Issa, in conjunction with the fall of missiles on Maranaz village.
Turkey and its affiliated armed groups ignored UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s call last March for an immediate ceasefire around the world to help combat the spread of the new coronavirus.
On August 31, the villages of Ain Daqna, Baylouneh and al-Shawargha were bombed, starting fires in the village of Alqmia in conjunction with the flight of reconnaissance aircraft over those villages.
The village of Mayasa in the suburb of Sherawa, al-Malikiyah, Maranaz, Ain Daqna in the northern countryside of Aleppo witnessed attacks with DShK weapons on August 30, in conjunction with continuous flight of reconnaissance aircraft.
The Turkish bombardment on Sherawa and the areas in which displaced people from the northern countryside of Aleppo are staying increases the fears of IDPs living there.
Turkey and their affiliated armed groups committed a massacre in Tel Rifaat last December, killing ten people, including eight children, and wounding 13 others.
Turkey and their affiliated armed groups bombed Aqiba village in the countryside of Sherawa on February 25 with dozens of missiles, killing three civilians and injuring three others.