2023-10-06 00:30:43
The toll is heavy. More than 110 people were killed Thursday in the attack on a military academy in Homs, in central Syria, according to a new report from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). The assault was blamed on “terrorist organizations” by the Syrian army, which promised to “respond firmly”.
The attack, which targeted a promotion ceremony for regime officers and took place at a time when Turkey was carrying out strikes against Kurdish areas which left at least eleven dead, left “more than 110 dead, including around half army graduates and 21 civilians”, and at least 120 injured, announced this organization based in the United Kingdom, which relies on a vast network of sources in Syria. Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghobash announced a “preliminary” toll of 80 dead, “including six women and six children”, and around 240 injured.
Turkey has bombed a power station in Qamishli, Rojava—Northeast Syria.
As usual, Turkey is bombing civilian targets, committing more war crimes. pic.twitter.com/bS8zyXb61J
— Diliman Abdulkader (@D_abdulkader) October 5, 2023
“Terrorist organizations” targeted the ceremony “using drones loaded with explosives,” accused the Syrian army, promising to “respond firmly” to “this cowardly, unprecedented terrorist attack.” There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Jihadist groups which control part of Syrian territory sometimes use armed drones.
Government forces responded with bombings which, according to residents, targeted the Idleb region, the country’s last rebel stronghold, in the northwest. The OSDH reported eight deaths and 30 injured. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is deeply concerned” after the attack in Homs, his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said. He “is also deeply concerned by reports of retaliatory bombings” in northwest Syria.
Government forces regained total control of the city of Homs in May 2017 after violent fighting, which had become a rebel stronghold after the pro-democracy uprising of 2011. They responded to the attack on Homs on Thursday with violent bombings. targeting the Idlib region, the last rebel stronghold in the country, according to residents, with the OSDH reporting four civilians killed.
More than half a million dead
Already during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, five members of the same family were killed in a bombardment by regime forces on a rebel zone in the province of Aleppo (north-west). The conflict in Syria was triggered by the repression of pro-democracy demonstrations, left more than half a million dead and divided the country.
The Kurds have notably established an autonomous administration in the northeast of the country, which is regularly targeted by the Turkish army. On Thursday, Turkish drones targeted oil sites, two power plants, a dam and a factory in Hassake province, controlled by the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Turkey claims to be acting in retaliation for the attack which targeted the Interior Ministry in Ankara on Sunday, injuring two police officers. “Six members of the security forces were killed in a raid” and “two civilians” traveling on motorcycles died in another strike, according to a statement from the Kurdish forces. FDS spokesperson Farhad Chami shortly after reported a ninth death. Turkey has claimed that the perpetrators of the Ankara attack, claimed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK, Turkish Kurdish), had been trained in Syria, accusations denied by FDS leader Mazloum Abdi.
The SDF spearheaded the fight against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in Syria in 2019 and still enjoys support from Washington. Ankara considers the main component of the SDF, the YPG (People’s Protection Units), as an extension of the PKK, described as a “terrorist organization” by Ankara. “There is a clear escalation since Turkish threats” against areas controlled by the autonomous Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria, Mr. Chami said. In response to the Ankara attack, Turkey also carried out strikes against PKK positions in northern Iraq, a country bordering Syria and Turkey.
Worry
After Thursday’s strikes, columns of smoke were visible above the Qahtaniya oil site, near the Turkish border, as firefighters headed towards the main power plant at Qamichli, in Hasakah province. In the central market of Qamichli, traders and the few customers had their eyes glued to television screens and their cell phones, anxiously following the news. “The situation is getting worse every day. Turkey does not let us breathe and targets us every day. We just want our children to live in peace,” says Hassan al-Ahmad, a 35-year-old trader.
The Kurdish autonomous administration on Thursday called on “the international community, the international coalition” against ISIS as well as Russia to “take positions capable of deterring” Turkey, which carried out three major operations against IS between 2016 and 2019. Kurdish forces in Syria. The United States, regime ally Russia and Turkey deploy troops in separate regions of Syria.
#Syria #drone #attack #loaded #explosives #kills #people