The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) called for international intervention against Turkey’s attacks on the civilian population in violation of international law. “The attacks by the Turkish state must be stopped and those responsible for the killing of innocent civilians must be brought to justice as war criminals in accordance with international legal standards,” said the AANES in a statement on the current wave of attacks by Turkey.

According to current information, three people have been killed in various drone attacks in northern Syria since Wednesday and at least eight others have been injured, some of them seriously. Today, the Turkish state carried out further drone attacks in Manbij and Kobanê. One resident was wounded in the attack on a village near Manbij and a worker in an olive grove was slightly injured. In the town of Sirîn in the south of Kobanê, a garage was bombed.

AANES pointed out that the Turkish wave of attacks has been ongoing since 4 October. Eighty per cent of the infrastructure in northern and eastern Syria was destroyed in the widespread bombardments between 4 and 10 October. Since 22 November, Turkish drones have been bombing the civilian population at random. AANES stated that the AKP government is using the attacks on the autonomous region to divert attention from problems at home. To this end, AANES said, Turkey is inventing false justifications to deceive the public. Attacks on civilians are war crimes that cannot be justified by anything, stressed the AANES.

Remarking that the fight against ISIS is also being severely hampered, AANES added: “The Turkish state is causing chaos and terror in the region. The attacks are leading to an extreme deterioration in the humanitarian situation. We demand a clear position from all actors. We call on our people to stand together. We offer our condolences to the families of the victims and wish the wounded a speedy recovery.”