Aleppo, Syria – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Monday that a Turkish airstrike in the Aleppo countryside killed nine people and injured two others from the same family.
The attack took place late Sunday night between the villages of Qumaji and Barkh Botan, south of Kobani, a Kurdish-majority city near the Syria-Turkey border. According to the SDF, the victims were farmers.
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The strike comes despite expectations of a ceasefire agreement between SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi and Ahmad al-Sharaa, head of Syria’s transitional government. The agreement aims to halt hostilities across Syria.
Since the outset of the Assad regime, Turkey has launched multiple military operations in northern Syria, targeting the SDF. Ankara views the group’s leading faction, the Kurdish YPG, as linked to the PKK, which it considers a terrorist organization.
The SDF, with U.S. backing, was instrumental in defeating ISIS’s last territorial stronghold in eastern Syria in 2019. However, tensions between Washington and Ankara have persisted over American support for Kurdish forces, whom Turkey views as a security threat.
Clashes between Turkish-backed Syrian armed groups and SDF fighters continue near Tishreen Dam and Qaraqozak bridge area, east of Aleppo. The situation remains tense.
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The ceasefire deal reportedly includes integrating northeastern Syria’s institutions under Syrian state authority, including border crossings, airports, and oil fields. It is set to take effect by year-end, but its future remains uncertain amid ongoing hostilities.
