Heavy fighting continues to rage in northern Syria, as Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) fighters continued to try to attack the Kurdish SDF in areas around the Tishreen Dam. At least 18 fighters, 13 SNA and five SDF, were reported killed today.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been pushing the SNA-led offensive for weeks, and demanded that the new Islamist Syrian government do more to eliminate the SDF entirely. Erdogan said Turkey has the power to eliminate both the SDF and ISIS themselves, and if the government doesn’t do take care of the SDF, they’re going to launch a cross-border operation.
Turkey has been threatening such an operation vociferously in the past week, and has been building up its military presence on the border for the last month. Turkey may have expected the SNA to rout the SDF much faster, but the SDF has been fairly successful in stopping Turkish pushes after the fall of Manbij.
Yesterday, the SDF reported destroying at least 16 military vehicles belonging to the SNA in the area between Manbij and the Dam, including 7 armored vehicles and 3 tanks. The SNA forces were backed by Turkish warplanes and drones.
In addition to the fighting, Turkish warplanes attacked an ambulance in a Kurdish civilian convoy traveling to the Tishreen Dam. The ambulance driver and 4 other civilians were killed, and 7 other civilians were wounded.
The civilian convoy was trying to join a substantial civilian protest at the dam, which has been ongoing for over a week. They are demanding the international community end Turkish military attacks on Tishreen Dam, which is a major source of electricity and fresh water in northeastern Syria.
Turkey and the SNA have been trying to take Tishreen Dam since the fall of Manbij, with hundreds killed. It appears that the Tabqa Dam further downstream on the Euphrates River will be the SNA’s next goal, giving Turkey near total control over electricity generation in that part of Syria.
Beyond the dams, Turkish artillery has also been attacking Qere Qozaq Bridge in recent days. That bridge is the only one upstream of the Tishreen Dam not already controlled by Turkey or its SNA forces. Its loss would prevent the SDF from easily sending reinforcements from the Kobani area to the dam.
Turkish media recently claimed that the SDF was to acquire 1,500 “suicide drones” from Iran. The SDF denied that report today, saying that its drones are entirely developed internally. The SDF does not use nearly as many drones as the SNA or the new Islamist government, which acquired drones from both Turkey and, in the case of the government, from Ukraine.
