Alarming escalation of killing and torture incidents in August | 40 Syrian civilians killed by Turkish forces in 2021, mostly children and women

As Turkish forces continued killing Syrians through gunfire by Jandarma, bombardment by Turkish soldiers and run-over by armoured vehicles, the Syrian Observatory monitored alarming escalation of violations committed by the Turkish Jandarma, in August, against the Syrian people who attempted to flee from the military operations in Syria. In August 2021, SOHR activists could document the death of six Syrian civilians who were killed by the Turkish Border Guard Forces (Jandarma) as well as documenting tens of incidents in which youngmen, women and children were subjected to brutal torture, after being arrested while attempting to cross into Turkish territory.

 

Accordingly, the number of Syrian civilians who were killed by Turkish forces since early 2021 has risen to 40, including 16 children and four women. The breakdown of fatalities was distributed as follows:

 

• By Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma”: 24 civilians, including a woman and six children, were killed in Idlib and al-Hasakah provinces.

 

• By rocket fire by Turkish forces: 15 civilians, including three women and nine children, were killed several areas in north and east Aleppo countryside and the northern countryside of al-Raqqah.

 

• By Turkish armoured vehicles: a little girl was killed after a Turkish armoured vehicles had run over her in Idlib province.

 

Further details on circumstances of the death of Syrian civilians by Turkish forces in Syria in 2021 could be categorized as follows:

 

-By Turkish Jandarma

 

• On August 31, SOHR activists documented the death of a displaced young man from Om Sahlij village in Ma’arat al-Noa’man city, after he was shot dead by the Turkish Border Guards Forces (Jandaram), while he was attempting to cross with other four persons into Turkish territory from north Idlib countryside.

 

• On August 30, SOHR activists documented the death of a civilian from al-Qamishly city, after being tortured brutally by Turkish Jandarma and dumped on the Turkey-Syria border between al-Qamisly and al-Qahtanyah cities. The young man was found on August 29 and his health condition was serious. The man was taken to a hospital in al-Qamishly city, but he died on the following day affected by his injuries.

 

• On August 22, SOHR activists documented the death of a civilian from Markada town in al-Hasakah countryside, as he was shot by the Turkish-Border Guard Forces (Jardarma) in Turkish territory, just after crossing the border strip from Otayshan village.

 

• On the same day, August 22, SOHR activists documented the death of a child from al-Jabin village in the northern countryside of Hama in gunfire by Turkish Jandarma with live bullets on al-Ali camp in Atama town in Idlib countryside.

 

• On August 19, SOHR activists documented the death of a civilian from the border village of al-Zouf in the western countryside of Idlib, after being shot by Turkish Border Guard Forces “Jandarma”, while he was attempting to cross into the Turkish territory.

 

• On August 4, SOHR activists documented the death of a young man from Maarrat Harma village in Idlib countryside, after being shot by Turkish Janderma while he was attempting to cross into Turkey from the northern countryside of Idlib.

 

• On July 18, SOHR activists reported death of a child, after being shot by the Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma”, while he was attempting to cross into Turkey from Idlib countryside.

 

• On June 25, SOHR activists documented the death of a young man from Deir Hafer town, after being shot by the Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma”, while he was attempting to cross into Turkey from Harem city in the north-western countryside of Idlib.

 

• On June 7, SOHR activists documented the death of a young man from al-Zarzour village in Jesr al-Shughur in the western countryside of Idlib, while he was trying to sneak into Turkey from west Idlib countryside near the Syria border with Iskenderun

 

• On May 31, a Syrian young man died after being beaten brutally by the Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma”, near the Syria border with Iskenderun region, while he was attempting to cross into Turkey through crossings used for smuggling in western Salqeen. After he was beaten, the young man was left near al-Alany crossing in western Salqeen, and he was taken later to the hospital before he died.

 

• On May 7, a civilian was killed in ​​al-Hafriyah village, north of Darkush, after being shot by the Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma”, while he was fishing on the bank of al-Asi River.

 

• On April 29, SOHR activists in Jisr al-Shughur documented the death of an old man from al-Zouf village on the Syria border with Iskenderun region, as he was shot by the Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma”, while he was working in his land in the village.

 

• On April 24, SOHR activists documented the death of a young man from Jisr al-Shughour countryside, after being shot by Turkish border guard forces, as he was attempting to cross into Turkish territory from the northern countryside of Idlib.

 

• On April 22, Observatory activists documented the death of a woman, after being shot by Turkish border guard forces near the border strip in Idlib countryside. According to the sources, the woman was working for a daily wage on agricultural land near the border wall, when she was shot by the Turkish Jandarma. It is worth noting that the victim lived with her family in al-Karama gathering camps near the town of Qah, north of Idlib.

 

• On the same day, April 22, a young man from the city of al-Raqqah died affected by his injures, after he was arrested by the Turkish border guards “Jandarma”, as he went missing on April 17 while attempting to cross the Syria-Turkey border from Tal Abyad area, north of al-Raqqah. According to the report of the forensic doctor at Tal Abyad Hospital, the young man was brutally beaten and hit on the head with a sharp tool which caused his death.

 

• On April 20, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented the death of a young man from the village of Bzapour in Jabal al-Zawiyah, after being shot by Turkish border guard forces as he tried to cross into Turkey from Idlib countryside.

 

• On March 19, SOHR activists documented the death of a young man from Al-Bab area, after being shot by the Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma” while he was attempting to cross into Turkey in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

 

• On March 10, a child was killed after being shot by Turkish border guard forces, as he tried to cross with his family from the area of Arrada in Abu Rasin countryside in Al-Hasakah countryside.

 

• On March 9, SOHR activists documented the death of a young man after being shot by the Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma”, while he was attempting to cross into the Turkish territory in Darkoush city on the border with Iskenderun region in the north-western countryside of Idlib.

 

• On March 4, a child was shot dead by the Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma”, while he was in front of his house in Al-Madlousah village in Salqin countryside in north-western Idlib on the border with Iskenderun

 

• On February 12, SOHR activists documented the death of a child after being shot by the Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma”, while he was working with his grandfather in a farmland in Salhab village in Jisr Al-Shughour countryside in north-western Idlib, nearly 500 metres away from the border wall.

 

• On February 4, a child was killed after being shot by Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma”, as he tried to enter Turkish territory from Hilt area in Harem district at the Syria border with Iskenderun region in Idlib countryside.

 

• On January 27, a young man was shot dead by Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma”, as he was attempting to enter Turkish territory near the Syria-Turkey border, from al-Hamboushia area in the western countryside of Jisr al-Shughour.

 

• On January 14, SOHR activists documented the death of a young man, after being shot by Turkish border guard forces “Jandarma”, while he was trying to enter Turkish territory from Harem area at the Syrian border with the Iskenderun region in Idlib countryside.

 

 

-By rocket attacks by Turkish forces and by Turkish armoured vehicles

 

• On August 17, a woman and a little girl were killed in Turkish artillery fire on the countryside of Tel Tamr and Abu Raseen in al-Hasakah.

 

• On August 4, SOHR activists documented the death of a family of four (a man and three sibling children) in rocket fire by Turkish forces on al-Safawiyah village, in Ain Issa countryside in northern al-Raqqah.

 

• On July 20, a civilian was killed in bombardment by Turkish forces on M4 highway in Ain Issa countryside in northern al-Raqaah.

 

• On June 6, a little girl was killed in artillery fire by Turkish forces on Kaloutah village of Shirawa district in Afrin countryside in Kurdish-controlled areas.

 

• On May 10, a little girl died after a Turkish armoured vehicle ran over her in al-Nayrab area in east Idlib countryside.

 

• On March 19, SOHR sources documented the death of child affected by the injury he had in earlier Turkish bombardment on Hadariyat village in the east of Ain Issa in north Al-Raqqah countryside.

 

• A few days later, a young woman died affected by the injuries she had in Turkish rocket attacks on Hadariyat village in the east of Ain Issa in north Al-Raqqah countryside on March 19.

 

• On March 14, SOHR activists documented the death of a child due to bombardment by Turkish forces, stationed in their base in Al-Yashli village, on Al-Zanqal village in Manbij countryside in the eastern countryside of Aleppo.

 

• On January 23, four civilians, including two children and a woman, were killed in rocket fire by Turkish forces and their proxy factions on areas in Tel Rifaat city in the northern countryside of Aleppo.