Turkey may have used ‘unconventional’ weapons in Syrian incursion: SDF
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), currently fending off a Turkish military campaign into their areas in northern Syria, late on Wednesday called for an investigation into the possible use of “unconventional” weapons by Ankara.
SDF Spokesperson Mustafa Bali said in a tweet they suspect “unconventional weapons” were used against their fighters, urging “international organizations to send their teams to investigate” some of their wounded personnel.
He explained that medical facilities in northeastern Syria “lack expert teams” that could definitely determine what type of weapon may have caused worrisome injuries.
Due to increased volatility in the area, volunteer organizations are increasingly fearing for their safety and vacating the targeted regions. On Tuesday, Doctors Without Borders announced the suspension of its operations and evacuated its staff in northern Syria.
Bali’s tweet was accompanied by a disturbing report by the local northern Syrian news agency ANHA that featured a video clip of a child who appeared to have chemical burns. According to the report, the child, along with a number of other victims, were allegedly injured in Turkish attacks on the border town of Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain).
After 8 days of fierce resistance by our fighters against heavy ground and aerial attacks of Turkey in Serêkaniyê, we suspect that unconventional weapons are used against SDF fighters upon the reports and signs we receive from the besieged town. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/Epr1BsDFhC
— Mustafa Bali (@mustefabali) October 16, 2019
The patients are currently being treated at a hospital in the city of Hassaka—almost 80 kilometers southeast of Ras al-Ain—with a resident doctor at the facility telling ANHA that preliminary tests had shown that the victims were wounded by “internationally prohibited weapons.”
Ankara’s long-threatened military push into northern Syria, which has the purported aim of confronting the Kurdish element of the SDF, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), began October 9. It came following an abrupt decision by the US to abandon its main partner in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria and effectively sanction Turkey’s offensive after a phone call between the presidents of the two countries.
Read More: Syrian government forces arrive in Kobani to prevent Turkish attack
The SDF has turned to the Syrian government to block Turkey’s aggressive campaign, in which they use local militant proxies, in a deal brokered by Russia. On Wednesday, a Kurdish official in a town that is currently under threat of Turkish invasion, Kobani, confirmed that Damascus forces had arrived there to confront Turkish forces.
Editing by Nadia Riva