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Turkiye’s airstrikes wreak havoc on north-east Syria: Human Rights Watch

February 9, 2024 at 8:18 pm

Logo of US-based rights group Human Rights Watch on the door in Berlin on 21 January 2014 [JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned about the humanitarian impact of the airstrikes on the region.

HRW released an extensive report in October about the damage caused by Turkish airstrikes to critical infrastructure in north-east Syria.

Hiba Zayadin, a senior researcher at HRW’s Middle East and North Africa Divisions, wrote at the time when “the world’s attention remains fixed on the devastating conflict unfolding in Gaza, another crisis is intensifying under the radar in north-east Syria.

‘There, Türkiye’s airstrikes and drone attacks on critical civilian infrastructure are putting livelihoods at risk and severing communities from electricity, medical care and other essential services.” Zayadin added.

Last October, Turkiye launched an aerial campaign in northern Iraq and Syria’s north-east after the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for a bombing near government buildings in Ankara that injured two police officers.

Turkiye claimed the attackers came from and were trained in Syria.

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