Turkish drone attack kills civilian, injures another in Aleppo countryside
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – On Thursday, a civilian was killed and another was injured in a Turkish drone attack in the town of Tel Rifaat in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
A local source told North Press that the Turkish drone shelled a bazaar yard in Tel Rifaat, where IDPs from Aleppo who fled the recent earthquake that hit Syria are taking a shelter.
On Feb. 6, earthquakes hit southern Turkey and northwest Syria, killing and injuring thousands in both countries in addition to causing massive destruction and trapping thousands under the rubble of collapsed buildings.
Over 3.000 families, numbering 60.000 individuals, fled to the northern countryside of Aleppo fearing buildings’ collapse, according to an official of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
The drone attack killed the 70-year-old Youssef Jlilati, who fled Aleppo days ago, and wounded the 50-year-old Taha Abdulfatah, a resident of the town, in his eye.
The northern countryside of Aleppo Governorate, also known as Shahba region, houses IDPs of the Kurdish city of Afrin.
The Turkish military operation “Olive Branch” caused the displacement of about 300.000 of the original inhabitants of the Kurds of Afrin.
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.
On Feb. 12, a fighter of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) lost his life after being targeted by a Turkish drone in the western countryside of Kobani, northern Syria despite US’ calls for halting military operations in Syria and shifting to delivering aid to the earthquake-affected areas.
On Feb. 10, UN Human Rights Chief, Volker turk, called for implementing immediate ceasefire in Syria “and full respect of #humanrights & humanitarian law obligations so help can reach everyone.”