The collapse of the al-Assad regime closed a cycle opened in 2011 with the Arab spring, but more than a decade of war left new conflicts and old wounds that are still open, and won’t heal easily.
On Wednesday 23 October, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan landed in Russia to attend the BRICS summit, there was a deadly attack on the Turkish aerospace and a defence company TUSAS facility near Ankara by two militants from The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).[1] This would result in a return to the brutal barrage the Turkish Occupation forces have put Rojava under for years. During this on-going escalation in the conflict we aim to keep a general update on the situation.
These dispatches are collated between the Organise Editorial Collective and our field reporters in Rojava.
Thursday 24 October
Last evening over a 12 hour barrage, Turkish occupational forces targeted an array of Kurdish villages, vital infrastructure facilities and security outposts for it's reprisals, in the countryside of Tal Tamr city in Jazera Canton alone The General Command of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would report use of 55 artillery shells and 11 mortar shells. They report back that 25 people were injured and 12 lost their lives, including two children. [2]
In Kobani the city bakery and power station would be hit multiple times and elsewhere oil stations in Rumelan, Awda and al-Saiida amongst others would be would be heavily targetted. Alongside this enitrely civilian facilities such as Grain Silos and Health Centres would also come under assult.[3]
The Suwaydiyah power station was hit multiple times, through-out the night leading to several casualties.
Our local reportes spoke to a local shopkeeper in Derik who had heard about the attacks in the petrol and gas processing plant in Suwaydiyah, in the early hours of the morning of 23 October who had made the 20 minute drive to the station to help. He drove twice between the station bringing the wounded from the station to the hospital in Derik. A friend begged him not to go since his health condition is not good but he refused saying "When something like this happens I cannot just stay at home".
After the dust settled the US rolled down to the oil stations in their RG-31 Nyala's to make sure the oil fields were still operational.
By the afternoon local communities began to respond by taking to the streets and protesting the attacks. There were protests in Raqqa, Kobanê and Aleppo.
The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) release their first statement about the attacks today. This statement gives sharp political analysis contextualising the attacks within the events of the past week, namely the Tuesday attack on an arms factory in Ankara, on Wednesday there was a physical meeting between Ocalan and his friends/family for the first time in about 4 years. It is difficult to express how euphoric people are here and across Kurdistan for hearing from Ocalan and getting the first proof of life in years.
That night the attacks began. The Turkish state is acting chaotically - allowing the historic meeting with Ocalan and then on literally the same day attacking Rojava again shows their confused strategy and leadership. This suggests they are at a strategic loss about what to do and how to achieve their aim of crushing the Kurdish movement.[4]
Rise up 4 Rojava have issues a "Call To Action for North East Syria (Rojava)"[5] in this that call for global organising in solidarity to make others aware of the reality of the people in Rojava face. The place specific focus on raising consciousness of how your state or companies from your country may be complicit in the attacks. ■
Friday 25 October
Attacks continued through the night, So far a total of 14 people have been killed and 40 other people injured. A plastic bag factory a few miles from the city of Derik was targetted this morning at around 9. Residents in the city could hear the soft booms of the explosions. It is not known how many people are injured, we are hoping that since it is Friday (the day of rest) that no one was working.
Last night, a little girl was killed in the village of Bania (el-Bineya), a village near Minbij. Farah al-Barhow was 11 years old. Her brother Abdulrahman and sister Sameer survived but are injured. Pictures show Farah's lifeless body as well as Abdulrahman with a chunk of flesh torn from his shoulder.[6]
Other targets struck was the "Ude" oil well in Tibespiye, an Asayish checkpoint in Eyn Diwar near Derik, and a grain store and the "El Emel" health clinic in Kobane.
The attacks were not limited to North East Syria. Turkey bombed at least 10 different sites in Şengal, in the state of Iraq.[7] ■
For technical on the ground stuff and further updates:
ANHA - https://www.hawarnews.com/en/ (The english site of ANHA (Ed. Aggregated and automated, so show dilligence and verify infos)
NPA - https://npasyria.com/en/latest-news/
RIC twitter - https://twitter.com/rojavaic
Citations - Further Info
1 - Al Jazeera “PKK claims attack on Turkish defence company near Ankara that killed five” https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/25/pkk-claims-attack-on-turkish-defence-company-near-ankara-that-killed-five
2 - Hawar News Agency “Security Forces reveal toll of Turkish attacks during 12 hours”
https://hawarnews.com/en/security-forces-reveal-toll-of-turkish-attacks-during-12-hours
3 - Rovaja Information Center
https://x.com/RojavaIC/status/1849431271463604560
4 – KCK October 24 Statement
https://kck-info.com/statements241024/
5 - Rise up 4 Rojava "Call To Action"
https://riseup4rojava.org/call-to-action-for-north-east-syria/
6 - Social Media Account of Farhad Shami - Content Warning -
https://x.com/farhad_shami/status/1849573382418731481
7 - Ronah TV report
https://ronahi.tv/archives/294243
The collapse of the al-Assad regime closed a cycle opened in 2011 with the Arab spring, but more than a decade of war left new conflicts and old wounds that are still open, and won’t heal easily.
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