A new Turkish military operation, which has been continuing on and off since 2019, is back to frighten the population. And to seriously damage civilian facilities.

In the days when the Palestinian tragedy is back in the news, reminding the world of its urgency, the Turkish government has returned to bombing north-eastern Syria, carrying out one of the harshest attacks in the past year. It was not reported in the media, but from 5 to 10 October, the Turkish armed forces conducted an extremely harsh aggression against the population in the area. This time, civilian, infrastructure and energy targets were targeted. The bombings hit more than 150 sites in the governorates of Hassakeh, Raqqa and Aleppo, causing dozens of casualties and destroying power and water plants, which resulted in water and electricity being cut off throughout the region.

As denounced by the Autonomous Administration, the damage to infrastructure had a very serious impact on 4.3 million people, completely knocking out 18 water plants and 11 power plants, including the one in Sweidiya, which supplies gas and electricity to all the regions in the north east; and the one in Qamishlo, which supports 40 thousand families. Attacks that made the distribution of electricity and water impossible until at least 18 October. A situation that has already been denounced in the past by civil society, which is raising the alarm about the spread of diseases such as cholera due to the lack of clean water. The two hospitals in Al-Jazira and Kobane have been put completely out of service.

"This is not the first time we are facing the dramatic consequences of Turkish attacks in the area"
Luca Magno, Syria Programmes Desk of Un Ponte Per

School classes have been disrupted, leaving thousands of students attending 48 schools at home. The total number of civilian sites targeted by the Turkish armed forces reached 104, in the course of 580 air and ground raids from Derik to Al-Shahba, which hit almost the entire north-east of Syria. During the aggression, at least 50 people were killed and at least as many wounded. The population, already struggling with a severe water crisis due to the drought of the summer months, is now in dire straits and the level of damage caused to essential services exceeds the response capacity of humanitarian organisations working on the ground. As our local colleagues point out, military operations have resulted in the destruction of several power plants and, as a consequence, have brought local hospitals to their knees and caused severe damage to stocks of medicines that need to be kept in refrigerators. But the worst situation, they warn, is in the Jazira region, where the lack of clean water is threatening to cause major damage.

"This is not the first time we have had to face the dramatic consequences of the Turkish attacks in the area," Luca Magno, Desk Programmes in Syria of Un Ponte Per, tells us. "We are working with our partners to do our part and provide new generators and solar panels, and ensure medical assistance through the Mobile Units to cover the needs of the affected villages and camps for displaced people, such as the one in Washokhani. People are very frightened, we must reassure them, make them feel that they are not alone and that we are ready to rebuild what the war destroys, whenever necessary".