A Turkish drone strike killed a high-ranking commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.
The attack also injured a child and a woman, SOHR said.
The commander, Şiblî Dêrik, had survived a previous assassination attempt using a Turkish drone, according to a report on the Bianet news website.
This latest attack is part of a series of Turkish drone strikes on the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.
According to SOHR, there have been 92 such attacks since the beginning of 2023, resulting in 76 fatalities and injuring more than 84.
On Oct. 5, Turkey launched a bombing campaign in northern Iraq and Syria’s northeast after the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for a bombing near government buildings in Ankara that injured two police officers. Turkey claimed the attackers came from and were trained in Syria.
The semi-autonomous Kurdish administration has denied the claim and says dozens of people, including security personnel and civilians, have been killed in the Turkish attacks.
Following the attack in Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said all infrastructure, large facilities and energy facilities belonging to armed Kurdish groups in Iraq and Syria were legitimate targets for the TSK. His remarks were interpreted as a declaration of war.
According to the autonomous administration in northeast Syria, damage to infrastructure caused by attacks that took place between Oct. 5 and 10 impacted an estimated 4.3 million people in the region, with at least 18 water pumping stations and 11 power stations rendered non-operational.
Source: Turkish Minute