Fighting between Turkish-backed SNA fighters and Kurdish SDF forces continues apace in northern Syria this weekend. Supported by Turkish warplanes, the SNA fighters have attacked multiple areas between Manbij and the Tishreen Dam.
Kurdish officials said they believe Turkey is trying to change the situation on the ground before President Trump takes over this week. The SNA has taken much of Manbij, and has pushed heavily toward the Tishreen Dam. So far the SDF defenses have held and the Dam remains in Kurdish hands.
In addition to air support for the SNA, Turkey has been conducting airstrikes on Kurdish targets across northern Syria. A Turkish airstrike today has reportedly killed Menije Hado, the co-chairperson of the Kurdish PYD, the leading political party among Syrian Kurds. She was among 6 civilians killed and over 20 wounded in the attack near the Tishreen Dam in Qamishli.
Hado and the others were participating in a sit-in near the Dam, a protest aimed at calling the international community to do more to prevent attacks on that area, a major source of fresh water and electricity for northeastern Syria.
Since the regime change in Syria last month, there have been growing calls, led by Turkey, to eliminate the effective autonomy in the Kurdish region and disarm the SDF, which Turkey insists are “terrorists.” The SDF has called for calm and suggested maintaining a more decentralized armed forces.
Syria’s new Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra, said it “would not be right” for the Kurds to retain their own bloc in Syria’s defense forces, and accused the SDF of procrastinating with demands to dissolve and submit to the al-Qaeda-linked government’s rule.
Turkish President Erdogan has been demanding that the new government end Kurdish autonomy and also end the SDF, warning that Turkey would soon invade if that didn’t happen. He has also demanded that the rest of the international community stop intervening within Syria.
