Several mortar shells fired from the Turkish occupied zone in northern Syria hit villages in the Shehba canton on Monday. The villages of Xirnêta and Hesecik near the town of Tel Rifat were affected by the artillery fire. It was initially unclear whether people were harmed by the attacks.

Tel Rifat is a frequent target of the Turkish army and its jihadist allies. The city is located 35 kilometres north of Aleppo and is the de facto defence line of the region controlled by the Syrian regime. Together with Manbij, Tel Rifat is also one of the two cities that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has named as the first target for a new invasion of northern Syria. Settlement areas in Tel Rifat and other regions in Shehba with a starting point of occupation are bombed almost daily.

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria declared a state of emergency last week in view of the escalating attacks and Turkish threats of invasion. It is feared that a large-scale Turkish invasion is imminent.