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Late on February 27, a missile strike targeted makeshift refineries and storage tanks used by Syrian oil traffickers in the Turkish-occupied part of northern Aleppo.
Several missiles struck the traffickers’ facilities and equipment, which are located in the village of Mazaalah southwest of the town of Jarabulus on the border with Turkey. No casualties were reported as a result of the strike.
Opposition activists said that the missiles were launched from the outskirts of the government-held city of Aleppo. The activists also shared online photos showing the remains of one of the missiles, a Soviet-made OTR-21 Tochka tactical ballistic missile. The Syrian Arab Army operates an unknown number of Tochka systems.
#ريف_جرابلس
صور الصواريخ التي ضربت الحراقات البدائية لتكرير النفط في قرية المزعلة امس.مصدر الصواريخ مازال مجهولا. pic.twitter.com/Jpch1jAjbU
— Mohammed Ferho (@FarhoMuhmd) February 28, 2021
The OTR-21 has a range of 70 to 185 km depending on the variant and a circular error probable, CEP, of less than 70 m. The variant used in the strike on oil traffickers in Mazaalah was likely armed with a cluster warhead.
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Traffickers in Turkish-occupied areas deal in fuel illegally produced by the Syrian Democratic Forces from northeastern Syria oil fields.
This was not the first such strike. Over the last year, several strikes with missiles and drones hit oil traffickers’ facilities and equipment in the Turkish-occupied areas. The most recent attack, which took place on February 9, was also launched from Aleppo.
