Turkey has launched a series of airstrikes on power and oil infrastructure in Kurdish-held northeastern Syria, knocking out several power plants, local sources and Syrian state media reported on Monday.
Khogir Najjar, a media official for the Kurdish-run autonomous government, told Reuters that at least 40 locations, including power plants, water pumping stations and oil infrastructure, had come under Turkish shelling in the past two days.
Najjar said at least 10 border towns were without power or water as a result.
Six Turkish soldiers killed in apparently armed attack in Kurdish Iraq
Syrian state television also reported on Monday that Turkish drones had attacked the Dilbasiya power plant and Turkish airstrikes had hit a power station in the main city of Qamishli. Syria's state news agency SANA said Monday's Turkish attack also left two water points out of service after electricity was cut off.
Turkey is conducting a military invasion and bombing campaign in Syria against the Kurdish YPG, which it considers to be part of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrives at a welcoming ceremony for Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Ankara, Turkey, May 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilisi, File)
The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.
Turkey's Ministry of Defense has confirmed that it carried out airstrikes in northern Iraq and northern Syria over the weekend after nine Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with the outlawed PKK in northern Iraq.
The ministry said in a statement on Sunday that the airstrikes destroyed targets consisting of caves, shelters and warehouses, as well as natural gas production facilities.
The state-run Anadolu Agency announced on Sunday that Turkey's National Intelligence Agency (MIT) had also launched attacks on PKK and YPG targets in Syria. The airstrikes targeted military bases and critical infrastructure facilities, including oil and gas facilities believed to be used to raise funds for the PKK, Anadolu Agency said.
“The power plant a few hundred meters from my house was damaged last year, last month and again today,” said Hussein Seifo, a resident of Qamishli.
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“Every time it gets repaired, it gets bombed again. I'm worried about my children these past two days,” he told Reuters by phone.
