Ibrahim Jaber

Turkish Army along with their proxies from FSA continue a massive offensive in northern Syria within the framework of “Peace Spring” operation. On Saturday, October 12, the city of Tell al-Abyad was captured after violent clashes against SDF units. According to the local sources, the city and its outskirts were heavily targeted with Turkish airstrikes and artillery which led to casualties not only among Kurdish fighters but civilians. For example, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 150 people including 50 civilians had died during 5 days of military operation. The photos of civilians injured during bombardment of Tell al-Abyad At the same time, Turkish military shelled a SDF-held Kamishli town at Syrian-Iraqi border. The result of mortar shelling of Kamishli town A number of locals including children are reported to have been injured in result of mortar shelling. Moreover, electricity and Internet were disabled. The photos of injured people after Turkish bombardment of Kamishli town Turkish military operation is obviously worsening an already poor humanitarian situation in northern Syrian provinces. According to the experts of the “Amnesty International” organisation, the «Peace Spring» operation will lead to the disastrous consequences and further destabilization of the region. “Hostilities will impact and restrict access to humanitarian aid pushing the civilian population, which has already suffered years of violence and displacement, to the brink,” the experts say. In fact, the UN reported that more than 130,000 people had had to leave their homes since the beginning of the Turkish attack on October 9, this year. The organization has also warned that this number can increase at least threefold. According to the spokesman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Jens Laerke, the number of displaced people can reach 400,000 so that all of them will need help and protection. Mass Media report that every day tens of thousands of people leave action areas for safe zones including eastern border in order to find shelters in neighboring Iraqi territories. In addition, one more challenge for regional security is sharp increase of unrest and incidents in refugee camps where ISIS terrorists and their families live. Kurdish administration reported that 859 terrorists had escaped from the camp in Ayn Issa, south of the city of Tell al-Abyad, after they attacked the guards. The escaped terrorists will possibly try to take the benefit from the uncertain situation covering the Northeast of the country and hide among rebels going either to the other territories of Syria or the nearest countries. It’s worth mentioning that terrorists’ relatives fuel unrest in al-Hawl camp at the border with Iraq using low security level of the camp connected with partial troops’ withdrawal for reflecting Turkish offensive. Ankara started “Peace Spring” military operation in chase of its own interests. Obviously, Erdogan’s aim is a total elimination of SDF and annexation of new areas in favour of the “Ottoman Empire” but not a settlement of the conflict.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadists continue to hold various military training sessions in the Afrin countryside under the supervision of officers from the Turkish army ahead of potential battle against SAA in Idlib province. The training includes lessons in tactics for storming enemy positions, fire and medical training and also engineering. In June 2019 terrorists from Jabhat al-Shamia and Usud al-Sharqia arrived in the Umm al-Khalakhil city in Idlib province from the western part of the province of Aleppo and the canton of Afrin, where they were trained under the guidance of Ankara intelligence agency to repel an offensive against Syrian army. Throughout Idlib province, bands of disparate terrorists groups have fallen in line behind the Ankara-backed project, which has imposed military discipline on jihadists. Critics, including Basel Fanoun, say they are no more than mercenaries fighting Turkey’s battles, pitting Syrians against Syrians, to this end Ankara seeks to better organise and train the terrorists allied with it, providing them with training, arms, and even a monthly stipend for the fighters.