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13 Members of "Liberation and Construction Movement" Killed in Clashes with "SDF" in Aleppo Countryside
Thirteen members of the "Liberation and Construction Movement," part of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, were killed during a sneak operation executed by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in eastern Aleppo province.
A reporter from Enab Baladi in the Aleppo countryside confirmed that members of the National Army were attacked, with others injured during a SDF infiltration attempt in the Al-Bouaihij axis near the city of Manbij. A military source within the "Liberation and Construction Movement" reported that the clashes near the city resulted in the deaths of 13 members.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous as he was not authorized to speak to the media, added that the confrontations also resulted in five injuries and a number of missing persons. Meanwhile, the SDF did not claim responsibility for any attack in the area, while the "Afrin Liberation Forces," a military group claiming to be independent of the SDF, confirmed attacks in the countryside of the cities of Al-Bab and Afrin.
Amid the ongoing clashes between the SDF and the National Army, both sides' controlled areas were subjected to artillery and rocket fire, leading to civilian casualties. The Syrian Civil Defense reported that one civilian was killed, and 14 others were injured due to rocket fire originating from areas controlled by the SDF and the Syrian regime, targeting neighborhoods in the city of Al-Bab in the eastern Aleppo countryside.
Additionally, the "Hawar" agency, close to the SDF, reported that one civilian was killed, and seven others, mostly children, were injured due to intensive Turkish shelling over the past 12 hours, affecting the countrysides of Manbij and Afrin, along with 13 villages and towns.
In a previous conversation with Enab Baladi, Mahmoud Hurani, a researcher at "Jusur Studies Center," explained that these operations fall under "guerrilla warfare," which includes ambushes, raids, and sniper attacks. He noted that many local factions in Syria resort to these operations for political reasons related to the understandings among regional and international forces responsible for stabilizing fronts across Syria.
The researcher added that these understandings aim to establish control and influence areas for local forces, meaning that the operations conducted by the SDF in the region or by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in western Syria are primarily attempts to influence or exhaust the adversary.
The goals of these rapid operations can be divided into several aspects, one of which is a lack of desire to control new areas and bear the burden of defending them. Instead, they prefer executing surprise operations that inflict losses on the enemy without attempting to fully control territories, thereby avoiding significant human or military losses.
