The villages of Tewîle and Um El Kêf, located to the West of the Til Temir district in Heseke Canton, were attacked by the Turkish army and allied mercenaries with heavy weaponry last night. Details about the attack are yet not available.

Largely unnoticed by the Western public, Turkey is waging an open war against northern and eastern Syria, bombing civilian settlement areas, autonomous administration facilities or units of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on a daily basis. The town of Til Temir, which is located a good 30 kilometres from the Turkish border in the Christian-dominated Khabur Valley, is one of the preferred targets of Turkey and its Islamist proxy troops.

Til Temir and its population have already been in the crosshairs of the aggressors since 2019 as part of a war of attrition, with phases of high intensity alternating with phases of low intensity. Over thirty villages have since been either occupied, depopulated or extensively destroyed. Almost as many villages lie directly on the front line - and thus in the permanent sights of the occupying forces.

The constant incursions by Turkey and its Islamist allies constitute violations of the ceasefire and de-escalation agreements agreed between the guarantor powers Russia and the USA with Turkey after the occupation of Serêkaniyê (Ras al-Ain) and Girê Spî (Tal Abyad) in October 2019. Both Moscow and Washington nevertheless give Turkey a free hand.