Syria: Turkish drone hits joint base of Kurdish forces and anti-jihadist coalition

Patrol of the group of the Democratic Forces of Syria, in the hinterland of Hassaké in the northeast of the country (illustration image).

REUTERS/Rodi Said

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This Tuesday, November 22 in Syria, a Turkish drone bombed a joint base of Kurdish forces and the international anti-jihadist coalition led by the United States, killing two Kurdish fighters, said Kurdish forces and an NGO.

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On November 22, " 

a joint base for planning and launching joint operations against the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) was targeted by a Turkish drone 

" in an area north of the city of Hassaké in northeastern Syria. , Farhad Shami, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-dominated coalition, told AFP.

The international coalition, the main support of the SDF and which deploys soldiers in areas controlled by Kurdish forces in northern and northeastern Syria, has not yet commented on this attack.

Two fighters killed

Turkey describes as " 

terrorist 

" the main component of the SDF, the YPG (People's Protection Units) which it considers an extension of the Turkish Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

According to Shami, two SDF fighters died in the strike and three were injured.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) confirmed that the joint base had been hit, along with the deaths of two fighters.

He was unable to say whether coalition soldiers were present at the base at the time of the strike.

Operation “Sword Claw”

Hundreds of soldiers from the international coalition, including Americans, are deployed in areas under Kurdish control in Syria, a country fragmented due to the war started in 2011. The drone strike came three days after the Turkish air force launched Operation “Sword Claw” with a series of air raids on Saturday evening and before dawn on Sunday that targeted PKK and YPG positions in northern Syria and neighboring Iraq.

(

with AFP

)

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