Washington contacts Ankara regarding recent escalation in Qamishli
WASHINGTON, US (North Press) – Washington is in contact with Turkey regarding its military escalation in the areas of northeast Syria, a source in the US State Department said on Sunday.
These contacts are regardung “the recent Turkish targeting in the Qamishli area and the attacks carried out by Turkish-backed factions in the area,” it added to North Press.
This morning, a Turkish drone targeted a car in the village of Himo near Qamishli, injuring a leader in the Asayish and some civilians.
Last Tuesday evening, the bombing of Turkish forces and the opposition factions loyal to them of the town of Abu Rasin, north of Hasakah, killed a woman and injured some civilians, 16 of whom were transferred to hospitals in nearby cities.
On Thursday, four commanders of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) were killed in a Turkish air attack on the headquarters of the Military Council in the town of Tel Tamr, and another commander was killed when a Turkish drone targeted his car.
Turkey is trying to exploit the world’s preoccupation with withdrawing from Afghanistan to bomb Sinjar and advance in northeast Syria, Amy Austin Holmes, an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center said.
There is a need for American action to avoid the consequences of what is happening in northeast Syria, especially since the recent bombing of Qamishli is an unprecedented incident that indicates a Turkish intention to escalate, she added.
She pointed out that the Biden administration is busy completing the evacuations from Afghanistan.
The SDF says that the silence of both the United States and Russia encourages Turkey to target the civilian population in the Autonomous Administration-held areas.
A statement by SDF, issued on Friday, said that its commanders, who were targeted by the Turkish bombing, were on the front lines during the war against ISIS in Kobani, Manbij, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor.
Turkey violated the ceasefire agreement more than 100 times during the first year of the armistice. It has also been targeting the town of Tal Tamr at least every month since the start of the truce, which is in opposition to the American-Turkish and Russian –Turkish ceasefire agreements, said Holmes.
She considered that Turkey’s destruction of infrastructure and civil facilities, “is something that has been continuing since the recent Turkish invasion of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad near Ain Issa, which calls for Washington’s attention to the ongoing attempts to destabilize the region.”
Security analyst Nicholas saw the Turkish attack on Qamishli with a drone as a dangerous development that indicates Turkey’s intention to escalate the drone war against the Syrian Democratic Forces inside Syria.