Click to see full-size image. Via Twitter.
On June 12, a Russian service member was killed and several others were wounded when their vehicle was hit while on patrol in northern Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based opposition war monitor of unclear funding, reported that the vehicle was hit when the Turkish military shelled a road linking the villages of Herbel with Um Hawsh in a part of the northern Aleppo countryside that’s controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). According to the monitoring group, a soldier was killed and four others were wounded in the alleged shelling.
From its side, the Hawar News Agency, which is affiliated with the SDF, reported that a Russian military vehicle was hit, adding that there were casualties, but did not provide any additional details. Another Kurdish news agency, North press agency, said one Russian soldier was killed and three wounded.
Meanwhile, Russian news sources, including the Rybar channel on Telegram, said that the vehicle was targeted with a roadside bomb.
One video from the scene of the attack showed a destroyed Tigr armored vehicle of the Russian Military Police, another video showed a wounded Russian service member being evacuated by a Mi-8 helicopter.
There was no immediate comment from the Russian military, the Syrian government or Turkish officials on the deadly attack.
The Russian Military Police maintains a network of positions in the northern Aleppo countryside and conducts patrols in the area on a regular basis to monitor a ceasefire there.
The attack on the Russian Military Police patrol took place amid violent clashes between the Turkish military and the SDF.
The Turkish Ministry of National Defense said on June 12 that at least 12 members of the People’s Protection Units, the core function of the SDF, were killed after Turkish forces retaliated to a mortar attack on Turkish targets.
According to the ministry, Kurdish fighters struck the Jibreen base area in the northern Aleppo countryside as well as the Oncupinar region in southern Turkey on June 11. There was no damage to the base or Turkish soldiers. Turkish strikes killed at least seven suspected militants in retaliatory strikes on June 11 and five others on June 12, the ministry said on Twitter.
The SOHR said that the YPG launched the attack in response to a Turkish drone strike that killed two of its fighters and wounded two others on June 11.
It’s worth noting that the attack on the Russian Military Police patrol came just a few weeks after a leaked United States intelligence document revealed a plot by the Ukrainian secret service to launch attacks against Russian forces in Syria in cooperation with the SDF. The group has since denied involvement in any such plot.
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