UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, ADDS ANOTHER DECK
By Mohammad Sio
ISTANBUL (AA) – Seven Syrian soldiers were killed and 20 others wounded in a drone attack by the YPG/SDF terrorist group targeting an ammunition site in the northeastern Hasakah province, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), citing the ministry’s Media and Communications Department, said army units discovered a workshop for manufacturing improvised explosive devices and drone munitions near the al-Yarubiyah border crossing in the Hasakah countryside.
The facility, the ministry said, contained several Iranian-made drones that the SDF was preparing to arm.
After troops began securing and sweeping the site, the SDF targeted it with a suicide drone, killing seven soldiers and injuring 20 others, it added.
In a separate statement, the army’s Operations Command described the incident as a “dangerous escalation” and a “clear violation” of the ceasefire, saying the SDF continues attacks on Syrians and their army and disregards all previous agreements, according to the news agency.
Later, the Command said in a statement that within 20 hours of the ceasefire agreement, SDF forces carried out multiple attacks on Syrian Army positions. These included drone strikes near the town of Sarrin, heavy gunfire from the vicinity of al-Sanaa village and surrounding hills east of Aleppo, areas the army said the SDF uses as military positions, killing two soldiers and wounding others.
Syrian forces were also shelled with artillery in the village of Kharab Ashiq east of Aleppo and at al-Aliyah grain silos in the Hasakah countryside, it added.
According to the statement, SDF forces later attacked Syrian Army positions south of Mount Abdul Aziz in Hasakah province using three armored vehicles and several wheeled military vehicles, with clashes lasting more than two hours after midnight. The fighting resulted in the deaths of two soldiers and the destruction of a Syrian Army tank, it said.
The army also said that the SDF targeted military vehicles near Sarrin with suicide drones, destroying one vehicle and setting another ablaze.
The attacks came after the Syrian presidency said on Tuesday that a “mutual understanding” had been reached with the SDF group regarding the future of the Hasakah province.
The Defense Ministry also announced a four-day ceasefire with the SDF, which took effect at 8 pm local time (1700GMT) on Tuesday.