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Türkiye Eliminates PKK Official Behind 2020 Car bombing in Afrin

Türkiye Eliminates PKK Official Behind 2020 Car bombing in Afrin
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Türkiye Eliminates PKK Official Behind 2020 Car bombing in Afrin

Türkiye Eliminates PKK Official Behind 2020 Car bombing in Afrin

Turkish intelligence has eliminated senior official from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the biggest component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Manbij, in an operation northern Syria.

It said the member was responsible for the 2020 car-bombing in Afrin, which killed 40 and injured dozens.

Heysem Cuma, codenamed Heysem Abu Dahham, was operating in Manbij, the Anadolu Agency said quoting sources.

Cuma also transferred arms to attack Türkiye's zones in northern Syria, primarily the Euphrates Shield Operation Zone, said the sources on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The figure was eliminated by the Turkish intelligence on July 9 in an operation in the city center of Manbij.

Also, Cuma was responsible for several bomb attacks in Jarablus in 2019 as well as the 2020 car-bombing in which left 40 civilians dead, including 11 children, and 47 people injured.

After the car bombing, the governor's office in Türkiye's Hatay province, bordering Afrin, said it arrested a person suspected to be behind the fuel truck.

Meanwhile, pro-Turkish factions brought in massive military reinforcement to Afrin, amid a state of high security alert in the city and countryside.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said “Al-Hamzah” and “Suleiman Shah” divisions, in addition to “Ahrar Al-Sham Islamic Movement” brought in huge military columns of heavy weapons, tanks, rocket launchers and 4×4 vehicles with submachine guns, amid a state of high alert in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham-held area.

In Aleppo, SOHR sources said Turkish forces brought in a new military convoy of military and logistic vehicles, armored vehicles and personnel carriers escorted with members.

The convoy crossed through Kafar Lousin border crossing with the Turkish side and headed towards the Turkish posts in the western countryside of Aleppo, within the “Putin-Erdogan” area.

The Turkish military reinforcements came after SDF escalated their attacks on Turkish military positions in Syria.

The shelling coincided with Russian aircrafts flying over the region. No causalities were reported.

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‘Deterring Aggression’ Operation Escalates Northern Syria Frontline

Turkish military reinforcements in Aleppo and Idlib (Turkish Media)
Turkish military reinforcements in Aleppo and Idlib (Turkish Media)
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‘Deterring Aggression’ Operation Escalates Northern Syria Frontline

Turkish military reinforcements in Aleppo and Idlib (Turkish Media)
Turkish military reinforcements in Aleppo and Idlib (Turkish Media)

At least 57 people, including 31 Syrian soldiers and 26 fighters from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other groups, were killed in clashes after an attack by HTS and its allies on government positions in northern Syria.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths occurred during a military operation, called “Deterring Aggression,” launched by HTS and its allies early Tuesday.

The group said the goal was to “expand safe areas for the return of our people.”

Fighting factions quickly captured more than 17 villages and towns in western Aleppo countryside after intense clashes with government forces, leaving them just 10 kilometers from Aleppo city.

In response, the Syrian government sent reinforcements and launched hundreds of shell and rocket strikes on civilian and military sites in the area.

Syrian and Russian warplanes also carried out 22 airstrikes, some targeting HTS positions in Idlib.

HTS, along with smaller opposition groups, controls about half of Idlib and its surroundings.

This area is designated a de-escalation zone, where a ceasefire has been in place since March 2020 under an agreement between Moscow and Ankara.

However, the region regularly sees sporadic clashes and airstrikes from Damascus and Moscow.

In related news, Türkiye has sent a large military reinforcement to the Euphrates Shield area, controlled by its forces and allied Syrian National Army factions in Aleppo, as well as to its positions in Idlib.

This comes amid rising tensions with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the offensive by HTS on Syrian army positions in Aleppo.

A Turkish military convoy entered the Euphrates Shield area from the Bab al-Salama border crossing in northern Aleppo on Wednesday. The convoy included trucks carrying heavy weapons, tanks, and armored vehicles to a Turkish position near the town of Mariamin, north of Aleppo.

On Tuesday, Turkish reinforcements arrived at Mount Zawiya in southern Idlib, part of the Russian-Turkish de-escalation zone.

The convoy, which entered through the Kafr Lousin border crossing, included around 50 vehicles, mostly artillery and tanks. These forces were stationed at a base near the frontlines with Syrian army-controlled areas.

The reinforcements arrived amid rising tensions along the frontlines with the SDF in Aleppo, military escalation by HTS in the city, and increased Syrian army activity in Idlib.

In one development, the Manbij Military Council, part of the SDF, launched a raid on positions held by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army near the village of Umm Jlood in eastern Aleppo, part of the Euphrates Shield zone.

Clashes also took place near al-Hamran village in western Manbij, and the Syrian National Army shelled the villages of Umm Jlood and Arab Hassan.

Additionally, two fighters from the Turkish-backed Sham Legion were killed, and three others wounded in a raid by the SDF in the Kafr Khashir area north of Aleppo.

The northern Aleppo countryside saw exchanges of shelling between the SDF and Turkish forces on Monday near the Mareh axis and Tuesday near the Harbel axis, with shells landing near a Turkish base in Tel Malid village, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.