News / Syria

Turkish-backed militants attack areas in northeastern Syria

Sunday, 13 December 2020 6:41 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 13 December 2020 6:41 PM ]

Turkish-backed militants gather at a position in Afis on the outskirts of the government-controlled town of Saraqib, east of Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, February 26, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Turkish-backed Takfiri militants have launched a series of artillery attacks in the northwestern Syrian city of Raqqah.

Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that the attacks were carried out on the outskirts of the town of Ayn Issa on Sunday.

The militants have often launched raids to occupy homes, steal agricultural machinery, power generators and snatch other precious items in the region.

The Turkish government has been supporting the militants since they were deployed to northeastern Syria in October 2019, when the Turkish military launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion in a declared attempt to push militants of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) away from border areas.

Ankara views the US-backed YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.

Separately, SANA said three militants affiliated with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were killed after their vehicles and positions came under attack in Syria’s northeastern provinces of Hasakah and Dayr al-Zawr.

The SDF militants, who are patronized by the United States, also kidnapped a number of people, including a child, after raids in the towns of Shahel and Tayyana, located on the eastern countryside of Dayr al-Zawr.

SDF militants kidnap Syrian civilians for forced recruitment: Report

The White House has long been providing the SDF with arms and militants.

Local Syrians complain that the SDF’s constant raids have generated a state of frustration and instability, severely affecting their businesses and livelihood.

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