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2024 Al-Mustariha massacre | |
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Part of Operation Dawn of Freedom during the Syrian civil war | |
Location | Al-Mustariha, Raqqa Governorate, Syria |
Date | 8 December 2024 Around 11:00 p.m. (AST) |
Attack type | Drone strike, massacre |
Deaths | 12 |
Perpetrator | Turkish Armed Forces |
On the night of 8 December 2024, a Turkish drone strike targeted a residential structure in Al-Mustariha village in Raqqa Governorate, killing twelve members of a single family, which included women and children. The civilian mass casualty event contributed to considerable panic among the local population in areas held by Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria regarding military escalation in the region with the onset of Operation Dawn of Freedom and the 2024 Manbij offensive conducted by the pro-Turkish Syrian National Army (SNA) against Syrian Democratic Forces positions. These airstrikes took places in three provinces: Al-Hasakah Governorate (140 strikes killed 3 Syrian soldiers, 24 military personnel, and 6 civilians, including one woman), Raqqa Governorate (7 strikes resulted in the deaths of 4 military personnel and 11 civilians) and Rural Aleppo (45 strikes killed 4 military personnel and 3 civilians). [1]
Through 2024, Turkish forces conducted 191 documented drone strikes across northern Syria based on statistics cited by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. These operations resulted in 55 fatalities and caused injuries to 49 military personnel and 73 civilians, including six women and three children. The casualty figures included 32 Autonomous Administration military personnel, three Syrian Arab Armed Forces troops, and 20 civilians, among them one woman. [2]
Following the capture of Tell Rifaat, the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) announced a military campaign targeting Manbij, a strategic city in the eastern Aleppo countryside. The opposition's military operations occurred as part of Operation Dawn of Freedom simultaneously with Operation Deterrence of Aggression, which advanced from Idlib toward Homs. [3]
On 8 December 2024 at 11:00 p.m. AST, a Turkish drone strike targeted a residential structure in Al-Mustariha village, located in the Ayn Issa countryside north of Raqqa. The attack resulted in the deaths of twelve members of a single family, six of which were children and several of whom were women. [4] [5] [6]
The massacre contributed to already-present panic among the local population in areas held by Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria regarding military escalation in the region and the increase in drone strikes in civilian areas. [3]
Ayn Issa is a town in the Tell Abyad District of Raqqa Governorate in Syria and a capital for the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. It is located halfway between the Syria–Turkey border town of Tell Abyad and the regional capital Raqqa. Through the city runs the M4 highway connecting Aleppo with the Hasakah Governorate.
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Arima, also spelled Orayma or Arimah, is a town and seat of a subdistrict (nahiya) in Al-Bab District, located 20 kilometers (12 mi) northeast of the city of al-Bab and 65 kilometers (40 mi) northeast of Aleppo in northern Syria. In the 2004 census, it had a population of 2,839. The town of Qabasin is also to the south-west, and closer than Al-Bab. Manbij city is to the north-east. In course of the Syrian Civil War, the town repeatedly changed hands. As of 2020, it was under dual control of the Syrian government and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
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The Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion, also simply known as Manbij Revolutionaries, is a Syrian militia that is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces' Manbij Military Council and operates in the Aleppo Governorate. Members of the unit have declared that their primary goal is to drive the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from Syria, and to establish a democratic, inclusionist government in the country.
The Eastern Syria insurgency is an armed insurgency being waged by remnants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and both pro and anti-Syrian government Arab nationalist insurgents, against the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), its military, and their allies in the US-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) coalition.
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The 2019–2020 northwestern Syria offensive, codenamed "Dawn of Idlib 2," was a military operation launched by the armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and other allied militias against Syrian opposition and allied fighters of the Syrian National Army, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Rouse the Believers Operations Room, the Turkistan Islamic Party, and other rebels during the Syrian civil war. The offensive began on 19 December 2019 and saw Russian-backed pro-Syrian government forces clash with Turkish-backed opposition groups along with leaving 980,000 civilians displaced.
Operation Spring Shield was a cross-border military operation carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in the Idlib Governorate of northwestern Syria against the Syrian Armed Forces and allied militias. The operation was launched on 27 February 2020 in direct response to the Balyun airstrikes, aiming to address the escalating situation in the region.
The 2020–2021 Ayn Issa clashes were a series of clashes between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) in Ayn Issa during the Syrian civil war.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war for 2021. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian civil war.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war for 2022. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found in Casualties of the Syrian civil war.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war for 2023. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found in Casualties of the Syrian civil war.
Starting on 5 October 2023, the Turkish Armed Forces launched a series of air and ground strikes targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces in Northeastern Syria. The airstrikes were launched in response to the 2023 Ankara bombing, which the Turkish government alleges was carried out by attackers originating from Northeastern Syria.
Events in the year 2024 in Syria.
Operation Dawn of Freedom refers to a military offensive launched by the Syrian National Army against the Syrian Arab Armed Forces (SAAF) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), targeting the northern Aleppo Governorate region between al-Bab and Tadef within the Operation Euphrates Shield zone.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war from November 2024. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found in casualties of the Syrian civil war.
The 2024 Manbij offensive was a successful military campaign conducted by the pro-Turkish Syrian National Army (SNA) and the Turkish Air Force against Syrian Democratic Forces positions in northeastern Syria between 6 and 9 December 2024. It was a part of Operation Dawn of Freedom, and occurred concurrently with the Deir ez-Zor offensive and the wider Syrian opposition offensives.
The 2024 Kobanî offensive is an ongoing military campaign conducted by the pro-Turkish Syrian National Army (SNA) and the Turkish Air Force against Syrian Democratic Forces following the successful 2024 Manbij offensive. The offensive was launched with the intent to capture the Kurdish-majority city of Kobanî and positions in Ayn al-Arab District to the east of the Euphrates. The offensive was initiated with numerous airstrikes across the Kobanî countryside and on the Tishrin Dam standing on the Euphrates between recently captured Manbij District territories and the Ayn al-Arab District.