TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – People of Tel Tamr town north of Hasakah city, northeast Syria, are fearful of the repeated shelling by the Turkish forces and Turkish-backed Syrian opposition factions of their regions, amid lack of real reaction by the guarantor powers on the ground.
People’s fears have increased as the recent Turkish bombardment on the countryside of Hasakah and other parts in northeast Syria are simultaneous to the attacks of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) on al-Sina’a prison in Hasakah city.
Two days following ISIS attack on Hasakah prison, two civilians were killed and three others wounded as the Turkish forces hit the countryside of Ain Issa town north of Raqqa, north Syria.
The attacks started in the early hours of morning and targeted the three villages of Jahbal, al-Musheirfa, and al-Fatsa.
Days later, fighters of Tel Tamer Military Council of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) countered a ground offensive against Tel Laban village southwest of Tel Tamer.
“The repeated shelling of the region by the Turkish forces causes public dismay specially that the shelling takes place while the great powers like Russia and the US are present in the area and they keep watching,” Muhammad Younis, a man of Tel Tamer said.
The Turkish shelling against the areas of Shingal and Makhmur in Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRG) and on different areas in northeast Syria aims to reduce the pressure on the terrorist gangs that attacked the prison, Younis said referring to Hasakah prison attack.
Repeated shelling
On January 20, ISIS sleeper cells attacked Hasakah-based al-Sina’a prison which used to hold thousands of ISIS members the SDF had captured in battlefields over years of its war on the hardline organization.
Then, three explosions were carried out by ISIS sleeper cells in an attempt to break their fellows out from the prison.
Immediately, clashes took place in the vicinity of the prison between the SDF and the Internal Security Forces of North and East Syria (Asayish) with the support of the Global Coalition to defeat ISIS on the one hand and ISIS sleeper cells and some inmates who managed to escape on the other.
The clashes lasted for almost ten days and the SDF declared full control of the prison but continued security combing operations in search of ISIS escapees and the sleeper cells in the neighborhoods of Hasakah.
As soon as the SDF announced re-control of the prison, Turkish forces and Turkish-backed Syrian armed opposition factions intensified shelling various parts of northeast Syria.
Since February, the Turkish forces have shelled, at least twice, Tel Tamr countryside with heavy weapons.
On February 7, the Turkish forces bombarded Dada Abdal, Asadiya, al-Bobi, and Tel Zeyab villages in Zargan district (Abu Rasin) north of Hasakah with artillery shells.
The Turkish shelling has also blocked the highway between the two towns of Zargan and Kisra.
The villages of Chatali, Karbashek and Bir Kniss, in the western countryside of the city of Derbasiye, were similarly targeted in tandem with the Turkish reconnaissance aircraft hovering over the region.
Several houses in the aforementioned villages were damaged but no casualties were reported.
The attack on Derbasiye coincided with attacks on Abu Rasin where several houses were damaged and civilians fled the strikes.
Additionally, the outskirts of Ain Issa was also targeted.
We do not know where to go
Randa Hussein, an IDP of al-Qasmiya village north of Tel Tamer, voiced concern about their fate after the recent fierce Turkish shelling of the countryside of the town.
Hussein and her family fled the Turkish shelling and resorted to Tel Tamr.
“Now, the Turkish forces are bombarding Tel Tamr, too. We do not know where to go? These attacks must be stopped,” she told North Press.
“The people are in constant fear of the shelling.”
The SDF says the Turkish forces does not comply with the ceasefire agreements, instead, it continues to breach the agreements and shell predominantly civilian areas.
Since late 2019, Turkey signed two agreements one with Russia and one with US stipulating a ceasefire in northeast Syria following the Turkish invasion on Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad.
However, the two agreements remained fragile. In general, the contact lines are violated by Turkish frequent shelling starting from Abu Rasin and Tel Tamer north of Hasakah, to Ain Issa north of Raqqa.
A day after the SDF announced the full control on al-Sina’a prison, Turkey bombarded the power station in Derik city causing power outage as the station was completely destroyed and four civilians were wounding.
Matayy Hana, a commander of the Syriac Military Council of Tel Tamr, said “all the Turkish assaults on Tel Tamr have failed as our forces countered them in the context of legitimate self-defense.”
The Syriac Military Council is one of the military councils affiliated with the SDF, and its forces are deployed along the frontlines with the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition factions in Tel Tamr area.
The Turkish shelling that were carried out in tandem with the attack on Hasakah prison have been pre-planned. The attacks that followed the unsuccessful prison break came as a reaction by Turkey, Hana noted.