Turkish airstrikes wipe out key energy infrastructure in Kurdish Syria

Turkey has carried out a wave of air strikes on electricity and oil infrastructure in Syria’s Kurdish-held northeast that has put several power stations out of service, local sources and Syrian state media said on Monday.

Hogir Najar, a media official at the Kurdish-run autonomous administration, told Reuters that at least 40 sites had been hit in Turkish shelling in the last two days, including power stations, water pumping stations and oil infrastructure.

Najar said at least 10 border towns were without power or water as a result.

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Syrian state television also reported the strikes on Monday, saying a Turkish drone had hit the Dirbasiyah power station and that Turkish air bombardment hit a power transfer station in the main town of Qamishli. Two water stations were also put out of service as Turkish strikes on Monday had cut off their electricity supply, Syria’s state news agency SANA said.

Turkey has conducted military incursions and bombing campaigns in Syria against the Kurdish YPG, which it regards as a wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrives for a welcoming ceremony for his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, in Ankara, Turkey, on May 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici, File)

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.

Turkeys defence ministry confirmed it conducted air strikes in northern Iraq and northern Syria over the weekend after nine Turkish soldiers were killed in a clash with the outlawed PKK in northern Iraq.

The air strikes destroyed targets consisting of caves, shelters and depots as well as a natural gas production facility, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT) also mounted strikes on PKK and YPG targets in Syria, state-run Anadolu Agency said on Sunday. The strikes targeted military bases and critical infrastructure facilities including oil and natural gas facilities believed to be used for financing of the PKK, according to Anadolu.

“The power station hurt a few hundred meters away from my house was hit last year, last month, and today too,” said Hussein Seifo, a resident of the city of Qamishli.

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“Every time it’s fixed, it gets bombed again. We’re afraid for our children after the last two days,” he told Reuters by phone.