Highest death toll since “Peace Spring” military operation | 31 Ankara-backed fighters killed in SDF ambush north of Raqqa

Al-Raqqah governorate – Syrian Observatory for Human Rights:

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has monitored a spike in the death toll following SDF ambush in Ain Issa yesterday

As several wounded died, the death toll among Ankara-backed factions has risen to 31, all of whom were killed in landmines explosion after an infiltration attempt into the village of Ma’alaq near Ain Issa, where SDF ambushed them by planting landmines before withdrawing from the village.

The region has been experiencing a tense calm since yesterday afternoon to date.

It is worth nothing that this is the highest death toll among Ankara-backed fighters in a single operation, since Turkish forces and their proxy factions took control of Tal Abyad and its countryside, over 13 months ago.

Yesterday, SOHR activists documented a new spike in death toll among the Turkish-backed factions as a result of the ambush carried out by SDF in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Mu’alaqah village nearby Ain Issa in northern Al-Raqqah, as the total number of fatalities has reached 27 militiamen. The factions managed to recover six bodies, while 21 other bodies remained in SDF-held areas.

Meanwhile, SOHR activists say that Russian forces stationed in Ain Issa have mediated with SDF in order to hand over the rebels’ bodies to the Turkish-backed factions, as SDF held these bodies after being killed when they entered the landmine field set up by SDF in the village.

In this context, 21 bodies were handed over to Turkish forces this evening, under the supervision of Russian forces and SDF, near Mu’alaqah village. It is worth noting that the recovered bodies included the body of an ex-ISIS “Emir” (senior commander) who served previously in “Tal Abyad State” in northern Al-Raqqah.