Turkish shelling damages crops in north Syria’s Aleppo
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – Turkish forces and their affiliated armed opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), shelled, for the second day, the village of Tel Qarah in the northern countryside of Aleppo, damaging about 10 acres of wheat and onions.
A military source told North Press that two artillery shells, fired from the Turkish military base in the town of Marea in Aleppo northern countryside, landed on the outskirts of the village over vegetable orchards and areas planted with wheat.
In 2012, the Turkish-backed SNA took control of most of the northern countryside of Aleppo, also known as Shahba region, after fierce battles between them and Syrian government forces. From 2012 to 2016, the SNA (Free Syrian Army-FSA at the time) used to fire shells at Afrin countryside which became a source of panic and horror among the civilians and led to casualties and material damage. This forced the Kurdish People’s Protections Units (YPG) to launch an operation in 2016 to wipe away the FSA factions from the region.
On Sunday, Turkish artillery shelled the villages of Tel Qarah and Maarat Umm Hawsh with five artillery shells, damaging areas of potato fields.
There are about 16.000 displaced families from Afrin distributed over 42 villages and towns in Aleppo northern countryside, in addition to 1.870 families, comprising 7.500 individuals, now living in the camps of Barkhodan, Sardam, Afrin, al-Awda, and Shahba, according to the Social Affairs and Labor Board of the Afrin region, currently operating in Aleppo northern countryside.
On Saturday, the Turkish forces and their affiliated SNA shelled the village of Aqiba and Tel Jijan in the Sherawa district of Afrin countryside.