SNA militants attack strategic bridge, dam under Kurdish rule

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Syrian National Army (SNA), an umbrella of opposition militia groups, launched another round of attacks on Kurdish-led forces in Aleppo province, mainly targeting a strategic bridge and a key dam. 

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement that they “successfully thwarted” attacks by Ankara-backed SNA militants on Qere Qozaq bridge, located on the strategic M4 highway, south of Kobane city in Aleppo province. 

“More than a hundred mercenaries were eliminated, many of their military vehicles were destroyed,” the Kurdish-led force added. 

Turkey-backed opposition militia groups launched an offensive against the SDF in the northwestern region of Shahba late last month, controlling it days later. They also took over the Manbij city earlier this week which Kurdish fighters had liberated from the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2016.

Sheikhmous Ahmed, head of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) office for the displaced and refugees, told Rudaw English on Tuesday that nearly 120,000 people have been displaced from Shahba so far, adding that many people have fled Manbij as well and are staying with their families in SDF-held areas.

SDF-affiliated media also reported a shelling on Tishreen Dam on the Euphrates River, with Hawar News Agency saying the dam went out of service due to attacks by Turkey and SNA militants. 

"The most important thing now is the situation in Tishreen Dam, where Turkish warplanes and armed factions behind them have been bombing the dam body, distribution and transfer yards, and cable carriers since this morning, which has led to the dam stopping completely and going out of service and is threatened with complete submersion,” the outlet cited the local energy authority as saying in a statement. 

Rami Abdulrahman, president of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Rudaw on Tuesday that the Turkish army targeted a military base near Kobane city. 

Turkey has not commented on the latest attacks on the SDF. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that “terrorist organizations” in Syria will be “crushed as soon as possible,” mentioning the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the political wing of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) - backbone of the SDF. 

Ankara considers the YPG the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - which has been involved in a decades-long war with Turkey.