Turkish military escalation | De-ath toll jumps to 75, including ten civilians in SDF-held areas and rural Aleppo
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) activists have reported that the death toll from the recent Turkish military escalation has risen to 83 people. On November 19 evening, Turkish forces started a large-scale military campaign on areas controlled by the Autonomous Administration in north and north-east Syria and areas where Kurdish forces are deployed in northern Aleppo, as a response to the terrorist attack in Istanbul, where Ankara has claimed that the Kurds in Syria are responsible for that attack.
On that day, Turkish fighter jets and drones conducted a large number of airstrikes, while artillery pieces in Turkish territory started heavy bombardment, targeting positions in SDF-controlled areas.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has monitored and tracked all developments of the latest Turkish escalation on positions in north and north-east Syria. In this report, SOHR displays full details of the aerial and ground attacks by Turkish forces, the consequences of this military escalation on areas controlled by Turkish-backed factions and Turkish territory and the death toll in these areas in the past days.
Total death toll
SOHR activists have documented the death of 83 people, combatants and civilians, since the beginning of the Turkish military escalation on November 19 until now, and they are as follows:
Eight civilians, including Turks in Azaz and at the Syrian-Turkish border.
75 persons in “Autonomous Administration” held areas and areas where Kurdish forces are deployed. The breakdown of these deaths is as follows:
• Ten civilians.
• 30 members of SDF and its security and military formations.
• Five Kurdish soldiers.
• 30 regime soldiers.
The number of fatalities is expected to rise further as those attacks left over 64 people injured, some seriously. In addition, there are unconfirmed reports of more casualties among military formations.
In just five days, Turkish fighter jets executed over 50 airstrikes, targeting vehicles, posts and different positions in Aleppo, Al-Hasakah and Al-Raqqah. These airstrikes killed 45 people and injured 34 others.
Turkish drones also fired 27 airstrikes that killed and injured more than 36 people.
Besides the airstrikes, Turkish forces and their proxy factions fired hundreds of shells on dozens of villages and towns in the countryside of Aleppo, Al-Raqqah and Al-Hasakah.