The U.S.-backed YPG terrorist group, the Syrian wing of the PKK, still poses a threat in Syria’s northeast after the fall of the Baathist regime, which widely tolerated their presence. Attacks by the group near Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates River are endangering the lives of tens of thousands of civilians.
Since Dec. 20 last year, PKK/YPG terrorists have targeted areas around the dam, located in the Manbij district of Aleppo governorate. Their long-range assaults with heavy weaponry have displaced around 50,000 civilians in 10 villages on the dam’s western bank. The indiscriminate shelling has forced thousands of residents to flee to safer regions, where they are now suffering from a lack of basic necessities, particularly in harsh winter conditions. Some civilians who were killed in the attacks remain unburied as aid teams are unable to reach the area due to ongoing violence and poor accessibility.
PKK/YPG terrorists have also taken more than 150 civilians hostage in the village of Ash-Shash. Those still in the area face extreme hardship, with no access to essential supplies. Villages like al-Kishla, al-Hammadat and al-Hajj Hussein, which are close to the front lines, have suffered massive destruction. Other nearby villages remain under constant threat of bombardment. Residents are urgently calling for an end to the attacks and the delivery of critical humanitarian aid to the region.
The Syrian National Army (SNA), which liberated Manbij from terrorist control on Dec. 9, 2024, during Operation Dawn of Freedom, is now engaged in clashes with PKK/YPG terrorists near Tishrin Dam in southeastern Manbij.
The vicinity of the dam was also a scene of the deployment of civilians and YPG terrorists disguised as civilians in recent weeks. Türkiye has accused the group, whose main branch PKK has killed thousands in Türkiye since the 1980s, of using civilians as human shields.
The YPG exploited the security vacuum and an apparent aversion of pro-Assad forces to strike them during the civil war and carved out its entity in northeastern Syria. As anti-regime forces advanced toward Damascus last December, the Syrian National Army (SNA) launched an offensive against the YPG to take back key towns the terrorist group captured. They managed to capture Tal Rifaat and Manbij.
The PKK/YPG terrorist group and Daesh threaten Türkiye’s borders and the territorial integrity of Syria and remain legitimate targets for Türkiye, the Defense Ministry said last week amid ongoing counterterrorism operations at home and across the Turkish border in Syria and Iraq. Since the fall of Bashar Assad, Türkiye has said repeatedly it was time for the PKK/YPG to disband. Ankara has mounted multiple operations against the PKK/YPG in Syria since 2016. The terrorist group relies on military support from the United States, which views it as a partner against Daesh in Syria.