Click to see full-size image. Source: the Hawar News Agency.
On September 27, two officials of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, the administrative wing of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), were killed in a Turkish drone strike.
A Turkish combat drone targeted a pickup truck that was carrying the officials, who were identified as Zeinab Muhammed and Yilmaz Shru, near the village of Tell Jman in the northeastern countryside of al-Hasakah. The two officials were killed on the spot.
Zeinab and Yilmaz were co-chairmen of the self-administration’s Office of Justice and Reform Affairs. The office oversees several matters related to SDF prisons in northeastern Syria, where thousands of ISIS terrorists are being held.
Zeinab Muhammed on the right side and Yilmaz Shru on the left.
The deadly Turkish drone strike was most likely a response to recent attacks by Kurdish forces in northern and northeastern Syria.
Over the last two weeks, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, the core faction of the SDF, and the Afrin Liberation Forces, a proxy of the group, carried out a series of attacks against the Turkish military and its proxies. The attacks resulted in human and material losses.
Turkey has been threatening the SDF with a new military operation since May. However, the recent developments indicate that the Turkish military is not ready yet to launch such an operation. Ankara is now attempting to deter and intimidate the group with its combat drones.