DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – Turkish military forces have shelled a number of villages in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah, leaving at least one civilian dead and several injured.
Turkey’s rockets and artillery rounds on Sunday hit areas on the outskirts of Tall Abu Rasin, which lies on the northern flank of the province, according to a report by Syria’s official news agency SANA.
The report added that the projectiles landed in the villages of Wedada Abdel, Umm Harmala, Matmura and al-Rabiat, leaving several civilians injured and a number of public and private properties damaged.
The attack comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday Ankara’s plan for a new military offensive in northeast Syria against members of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) will remain on the agenda until security concerns are addressed.
Back on May 23, Erdogan said Ankara aims to resume its efforts to create a 30-kilometer (19-mile) “safe zone” along its border with Syria, saying, “We will soon take new steps regarding the incomplete portions of the project we started on the 30km deep safe zone we established along our southern border.”
Meanwhile, Syrian army forces intercepted and forced a U.S. military convoy to retreat as it was attempting to pass through a village in Hasakah province.
SANA reported that the convoy of five armored vehicles had to turn around and head back in the directions it came from after Syrian government troops deployed at a checkpoint outside the village of Tal Dahab expelled it from the area on Tuesday.
The report added that a pickup truck belonging to U.S.-sponsored and Kurdish-led militants from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was accompanying the U.S. convoy.
The US military has stationed forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.
Damascus, however, maintains the deployment is meant to plunder the country’s rich mineral resources.
In another incident, one civilian was killed and 12 more people sustained injuries in a terrorist attack on a religious gathering in Syria’s central Hama province, SANA reports.
The deadly attack occurred on Sunday morning, when terrorists targeted a gathering in Suqaylabiyah City in Hama countryside with a rocket, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported.
“A rocket fired by terrorist organizations targeted a religious gathering in the town of al-Suqaylabiyah near Hama, killing two people and wounding 12,” it said.
SANA added that people had gathered for a religious celebration marking the opening of the Hagia Sophia Church in the city.