Drone Strike Kills Civilians in Kobani Countryside Amid Ongoing Clashes Despite Ceasefire
Six civilians were killed and six others seriously injured, including four children who were transferred to medical points, following a drone strike believed to be Turkish that targeted a residential house in the village of Kharab Ashk in the countryside of Ain al-Arab (Kobani).
The village of Kharab Ashk witnessed a horrific massacre after a drone struck a house belonging to a civilian family, resulting in the killing and injury of all family members at once.
In a statement, the Media Center of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that since 2:00 a.m. today, factions affiliated with Damascus (the Syrian Arab Army) have launched intensive attacks from multiple axes on the towns of Kharab Ashk and Jalabiya, located southeast of Kobani city, accompanied by heavy artillery shelling targeting residential neighborhoods and the surroundings of both towns.
The statement said that violent clashes erupted between SDF forces and the attacking factions and are still ongoing at the time of writing, particularly in the town of Jalabiya. The clashes are taking place amid the arrival of additional military reinforcements by the attacking factions, including tanks and armored vehicles, alongside intensive flights of Turkish drones over the area.
The SDF stated that these attacks constitute a clear and explicit violation of the ceasefire agreement, which came into effect only two days ago, stressing that this reflects Damascus’ failure to honor its commitments and its continued policy of military escalation and destabilization of the region.
The forces affirmed their legitimate right to self-defense and held Damascus fully responsible for these violations and their humanitarian and security consequences, calling on the guarantor parties of the ceasefire agreement to assume their responsibilities and take urgent action to stop the attacks and put an end to the ongoing escalation.
In a later statement, the SDF reported that its forces are currently repelling an attack launched by Damascus-affiliated factions on the village of Al-Safa, south of the city of Jal Agha, where the area is witnessing intense clashes as part of the continued escalation despite the ceasefire agreement.
