The fighting in northern Syria continues Monday, with yet another offensive by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) against the Tishreen Dam and the surrounding area, which are controlled by the Kurdish SDF. The SDF repelled the offensive.
Despite losing Manbij in early Turkish-backed offensives, the SDF has been much more successful defending the Tishreen Dam area, over 440 fighters have been killed on both sides in the past month and a half.
The SNA suffered heavy losses in today’s push, with the SDF reporting 29 SNA killed and 15 others wounded. Eight SDF fighters were reported killed earlier in the day, though it’s not clear if that’s the final count.
Tishreen Dam has been a primary goal of Turkey in the offensive in recent weeks. It is the first of two major dams on the Syrian part of the Euphrates River. The dams are the primary source of drinking water and electricity in northeastern Syria, which the SDF controls, and it is believed Turkey intends to use those dams as leverage in trying to force the Kurds to disarm.
Since the regime change in Syria last month, the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the de facto government in Syria, has been supporting the anti-Kurd offensives. It has been reported that an HTS military convoy arrived on the front lines at the Dam on Monday and is preparing to join the battle.
Kurdish civilians have been holding sit-in protests at the Tishreen Dam in recent weeks, calling for the international community to stop the attacks and warning the fall of the Dam could be a humanitarian crisis.
Turkey has attacked those sit-ins in recent days. They killed Syrian Kurdish political leader Menije Hado on Sunday, and on Monday they’ve reportedly killed Kurdish artist and filmmaker Bafi Tyar. The flagrant attacks on civilian demonstrations has fueled public protests in the Syrian town of Amuda and in surrounding villages.
