Turkish forces, SNA hit villages in Aleppo countryside
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – On Wednesday, Turkish forces and their affiliated armed Syrian opposition factions targeted several villages in the countryside of the town of Tel Rifaat in the northern countryside of Aleppo, north Syria.
A military source told North Press the Turkish forces and their affiliated factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), targeted at noon the village of Umm Hawsh in the countryside of Tel Rifaat.
The source added that the shelling renewed in the evening, targeting a forest in the village of Soghana in Sherawa district and the villages of Herbel, Sheikh Iss and Umm Hawsh with several shells.
The shelling caused damage to the Syrian government forces positions in Herbel, according to the source that did not elaborate about the extent of damage.
The town of Tel Rifaat, 35 km north of Aleppo city, has been a shelter for Afrin displaced people since 2018 following the Turkish invasion of Afrin and its countryside which resulted in the displacement of about 300.000 of the original inhabitants.
There are 3.692 displaced families that include 14.783 people from Afrin and 35 displaced families from Idlib live in Tel Rifaat, according to statistics carried out by Autonomous Administration of Afrin, which is currently operating in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
There are also 630 families that include about 3.000 people of original residents in the town, according to the same source.
The villages in Aleppo northern countryside have been under successive shelling by the Turkish forces and the SNA factions for months.
August has been one of the deadliest months in north and northeast Syria. Turkish drone strikes were active. The strikes allegedly targeting military sites resulted in civilian’s deaths too, many were children.
In a press release on August 25, Save the Children said that at least 40 children were killed or injured in up to August 24 in north and northeast Syria.
“We urgently call on all parties to the conflict to de-escalate tensions and to take all possible steps to keep children safe from harm. No child should ever be in the firing line,” said Beat Rohr, Save the Children’s Interim Response Director for Syria.