Yet another Turkish drone attack targeted civilians in northern Syria on Wednesday. According to latest reports, three people were killed and five injured in the attack on Tel Rifat in the canton of Shehba. Buildings and cars were damaged in the bombing.

Two of those killed in the attack were identified as 22-year-old Fatime Osman Mamo and 28-year-old Reşid Eliko, while those injured, who include a child, are as follows:

Hisên Mûrad Qirukî (13)

Semîr Ebdulqadêr Reşo (31)

Egid Fexrî Şêxo (32)

Zuhêr Ebdullrehmen Mihemed (36)

Menan Reşîd Hesen, (57)

In Tel Rifat, nine people had been injured in a Turkish drone attack on 4 August, among them six children and youths.

Tel Rifat and the Shehba region

Tel Rifat is 35 kilometres north of Aleppo. Shehba is the de facto defence line of Aleppo. The small region comprises about 80 villages and hamlets, is 65 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide. In 2012, Tel Rifat and its surroundings were occupied by Turkish-controlled FSA units and the Al-Qaeda offshoot Jabhat al-Nusra. In 2015, ISIS took the entire region except for a few villages. Until the occupation of Afrin, the region was under the protection of the SDF after its liberation. Russia seized the opportunity of the Turkish invasion of Afrin and settled in the Shehba region together with regime troops. After the Turkish state completely encircled Afrin on 15-16 March 2018, a corridor was opened for the civilian population of Afrin following talks between Russia and the SDF at Russia's request. As part of the agreement, the SDF had to withdraw and Russian, Syrian and Iranian troops were stationed there.

Although the Turkish state is shelling the region with artillery almost daily, according to the autonomous administration, about 100,000 refugees from Afrin live in Shehba. In addition, there are 150,000 people who have fled from regions such as Azaz, Jarablus and Bab to escape the Turkish occupation. The original population of the mainly desert region was 90,000. The people from Afrin remain in the region despite difficult conditions, because they hope for the liberation of their homeland.