Syrian Kurds Launch Counterattack on Tishrin Dam

Armed clashes near the Tishrin Dam, Syria, Dec. 23, 2024. X/ @zoomnewskrd

December 23, 2024 Hour: 9:51 am

The dam holds 2 million cubic metres of water and supplies electricity to much of the north-east of the country.

On Monday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an armed alliance led by Syrian Kurds, launched a counterattack to repel Turkish-backed rebel factions from the vicinity of the strategic Tishrin Dam in northern Syria.

The SDF reported that fighters from one of its member factions, the Manbij Military Council, discovered ten bodies of “mercenaries of the Turkish occupation” and captured a Turkish-backed rebel. Additionally, they destroyed five military vehicles during the counterattack, which is ongoing across several fronts.

It was also noted that the counterattack is taking place around the Tishrin Dam, a facility located in the city of Manbij in Aleppo province. The dam is considered strategic as it serves as the primary source of electricity for the entire area.

On Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the SDF had advanced into three villages near the dam following twelve days of continuous clashes with Turkish-backed factions.

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🎯Images from the ongoing operation on the Manbij front: The bodies of 10 FSA members were taken into the hands of the Syrian Democratic Forces, and 5 gang vehicles belonging to the SNA/ISIS, which tried to prevent the forces from advancing, were destroyed. pic.twitter.com/R2rb79wyPE
— MIDDLE EAST NEWS (@middleeastnevs) December 23, 2024

“There were violent clashes today, with heavy weapons, following two simultaneous attacks by Turkish-backed factions near the Tishrin and Qara Qozak dams in eastern rural Aleppo,” said the UK-based NGO. It added that the fighting continued for hours, with reports of casualties on both sides.

The Manbij Military Council announced earlier on Monday that its fighters had thwarted a new attack by Turkish-backed rebels near Tishrin and had “initiated a clearing operation in several villages close to the dam.”

The Tishrin Dam, holding 2 million cubic meters of water, supplies electricity to much of northeastern Syria, where areas are under SDF control. This force captured the dam in 2015 with the support of the U.S.-led international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS).

The recent clashes between the SDF and Turkish-backed rebels erupted after December 8, when an insurgent alliance led by the Levant Liberation Committee, the successor of the Nusra Front (formerly Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate), ousted President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.