Several Turkey-backed fighters killed amid Tishrin dam clashes

At least eight Turkey-backed fighters were killed on Monday as clashes continued in northern Syria’s Tishrin dam, the Kurdish-led Democratic Forces (SDF) said, amid reports that Turkish-supported Syrian factions are advancing in the dam’s surroundings.

The SDF said they also managed to destroy four military vehicles, as the US-backed forces attempted to repel attacks from the SNA and affiliated groups, Kurdish media said.

Fourteen others were injured in the clashes too. No details emerged of any Kurdish-linked casualties or injuries.

The Kurdish forces said their Martyr Hanoun Units carried out 12 military operations to counter SNA-launched attacks. 

“Yesterday, at approximately 11:00, the Turkish occupation mercenaries launched a large attack on the al-Imam Hill in the village of Khirbet al-Zamala, situated near the Tishrin Dam southeast of Manbij. This attack involved six DShK-mounted vehicles, and other armoured vehicles, as well as a BMB armoured vehicle,” the SDF said in an official statement.

SNA fighters carried out air raids in the Tishrin dam area using BM21 Grad missiles, according to The New Arab’s Arab-language site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, citing the Kurdish militias. They also bombed the Syriatel Hills with artillery shelling and attacked the Deir Hafir vicinity,

The clashes reportedly lasted until 15:00 local time, before it was thwarted after deadly attacks on the Turkey-supported fighters.

Additionally, the Turkish Air Force also carried out raids on SDF tunnels in the countryside of Kobani, east of Aleppo, while another raid targeted a military headquarters for the Kurdish militias on the road to the town of Sarrin, in Aleppo’s eastern countryside, Al-Araby added.

The clashes are occurring despite a fragile, US-brokered truce between the warring parties.

The Tishrin Dam and its surroundings have been the site of numerous clashes over several weeks between Kurdish-led forces and Turkish-backed ones after the SNA launched the ‘Operation Dawn of Freedom’ offensive in early December in a bid to seize control of the dam.

At least 300 people have been killed since, mostly Turkey-backed fighters.

The dam, located in the Manbij district of the Aleppo governorate, serves as a strategic entity key to controlling the Syrian region east of the Euphrates River.

Turkey believes the SDF acts as the Syrian wing of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), with which Ankara has been in intense conflict since the 1980s. Turkey also labels the PKK as a terrorist organisation alongside the EU, UK and US.

The SDF and the affiliated Autonomous Administration of Northeastern Syria (AANES) currently control northeast Syria, though it is not recognised by Syria’s current interim government, or Turkey – who is increasingly playing a role in reshaping the country post the ouster of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.