Turkish forces continue shelling Aleppo countryside
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – Using heavy artillery, Turkish forces and Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), targeted on Sunday villages in the northern countryside of Aleppo Governorate (Shahba region).
A military source told North Press that the Turkish artillery stationing in Scientific Research Center in the village of Nada, near the city of Azaz, north of Aleppo city, targeted the villages of al-Malikiyah, Shawargha, and Tanab in the northern countryside of Aleppo with 30 shells.
The Turkish artillery has been shelling the aforementioned villages since the early morning, according to the source.
Turkey and its affiliated SNA factions escalate the shelling of villages in Shahba region, which is targeted on an almost daily basis. They also shell areas north of Hasakah that witness intermittent Turkish shelling.
The Turkish escalation followed Tehran Summit in which, according to analysts, Turkey failed to obtain a green light from Iran and Russia to launch a military operation against northern Syria.
Tehran’s trilateral Summit brought presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey together on July 19 with Syrian issue on the top of its agenda.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently announced plans to carry out another major military cross-border incursion into northern Syria. Erdogan specified his targets in the two northern Syrian cities of Manbij and Tel Rifaat.
On Saturday, the Turkish forces shelled the town of Tel Rifaat, in addition to the villages of Sheikh Issa and Maraanaz, north of Aleppo.
The northern countryside of Aleppo governorate, also known as Shahba region, houses IDPs of the Kurdish city of Afrin which was occupied in 2018 by Turkey following a military operation called “Olive Branch” to push away the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of protecting Turkey’s “national security”.
The operation caused the displacement of about 300.000 of the original inhabitants of the Kurds of Afrin who have been taking shelter in 40 villages and five camps in Shahba region since then.
There are about 16.000 displaced families from Afrin distributed over 42 villages and towns in Shahba region, 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.
The area has been militarily protected by Russian and Syrian government forces since 2018.