Update December 23 – SDF counter-offensive at the Tishreen Dam

Highlights

• SDF launch counter-offensive at the Tishreen Dam, re-taking several villages between the Euphrates River and Manbij city
• Dire living conditions for Shehba IDPs; UNICEF notes possibility of further large-scale displacement should fighting break out in Kobane
• RIC records 165 military personnel, 11 Asayish and 68 civilians killed in Turkish/SNA attacks since November 29th, plus 73 civilians wounded

SDF advance from the Tishreen towards Manbij

• After two weeks of near-daily clashes at Tishreen Dam and Qereqozak Bridge – as the Turkish-backed SNA unsuccessfully attempted to cross the Euphrates river from Manbij countryside into that of Kobane – the SDF today launched a counter-offensive and took back several villages between the Euphrates River and Manbij center. The counter-offensive is ongoing at the time of writing and the situation on the ground is changing fast
• An SDF source told RIC: [Around the Tishreen Dam] “the situation of the fight has changed a bit. The MMC have begun attacking the SNA. We are no longer operating from a defensive position. We have also re-taken several positions
• In SNA-controlled Manbij, conditions for civilians have deteriorated further in recent days, with widespread anger towards the rising toll of abuses and crimes committed by the SNA
• Following the rape of a seven-year-old girl in Manbij city yesterday, the al-Bubna tribe to which the girl belonged attacked the SNA faction responsible, Suleiman Shah, led by the notorious Abu Amsha. Suleiman Shah is US-sanctioned for “serious human rights abuses” and Abu Amsha is documented as participating in murders, rapes, tortures, kidnapping and arms trafficking
• Both Abu Amsha and the leader of the SNA’s Hamza Division, Abu Bakir, are US-sanctioned as individuals due to their involvement in human rights violations. Their factions have been leading the SNA’s offensive into NES this month, with both leaders pictured during the attack on Manbij
• Manbij’s Bin Asid tribe released a statement in the context of the SNA’s looting, plundering, killings and other crimes, stating that any individual or group entering their villages to commit violations will be considered marked for death
• The Hevdesti/Synergy human rights association has documented the SNA conducting extra-judicial executions of fighters, killing of civilians, targeted looting of Kurdish property, arbitrary arrests, and extortion in Manbij, writing: “The recent attack is part of a series of ongoing assaults on Northeastern Syria, where Kurds, Arabs, and various religious, ethnic, and national minorities live together. […] What is happening in Manbij is not just a military clash; it is rather a severe violation of human rights, particularly targeting civilians, and paving the way for systematic forced displacement.”
• The Tishreen Dam remains out of service. UNICEF: “At least 2 million residents in Aleppo city and the eastern countryside are experiencing severe water shortages. This crisis stems from the suspension of two critical water stations. […] The disruption has left many without access to clean water, exacerbating the already challenging living conditions in the region. Immediate measures are needed to repair the water stations”
• RIC records that a total of 165 NES military personnel and 11 Asayish have been killed in Turkish/SNA attacks since November 29th
• The SDF also report ongoing attacks outside the Manbij frontlines, including SNA infiltration attempts near Tel Tamir and Ayn Issa, plus SNA shelling along the contact lines

Civilian casualty toll from Turkish/SNA attacks rises

• SNA shelling on Jadah village, Kobane countryside, killed a mother and child yesterday.
• A Turkish drone strike near Tel Brak on the 21st killed three civilians – Bassem Shaddadi, Tel Brak City Council member, Abeer al-Khalif, Civil Protection Forces member, Ahmed al-Tami, a mullah of the region – and injured one – Tel Brak Elders’ Council chair, Bunyan Hasnawi Jadou
• A Turkish drone strike hit a grain center near Sarrin (Kobane countryside) on the 21st. “It was a sudden attack on one of the wheat storage units in the outer section [of the center]. The strike led to the burning & destruction of 300 tonnes of wheat,” a source in Kobane told RIC.
• A total of 68 civilians have been killed and 73 wounded in Turkish-SNA attacks since November 29th, as per RIC records

Tel Brak Elders’ Council chair, Bunyan Hasnawi Jadou, injured in a Turkish drone strike

Situation of displaced persons remains grave

• UNICEF state that around half of the Shehba IDPs are living in collective shelters in NES; the other half with friends, relatives, or other private accommodation
• IDPs report miserable living conditions in many shelters. Solin, a Shehba IDP staying in one of the 200 collective centers established in Qamishlo city, told RIC:

“We arrived in Tabqa, we saw lots of people have arrived, it was crowded and there was no place. We went to register our names; they said there is no space anymore. We went to Raqqa, we were organized to stay in a classroom, 6 families in one room. It was dirty. We cleaned it. There were no toilets. They are far away from the room. There was a disabled girl with us. She can not get to the toilets easily. We were cutting the heads of the water bottles in order to enable the girl to pee in them. […] We stayed in Raqqa. They gave us canned food. There was little food. We came here to Qamishlo, hoping that here will be better. I had pain in my back. It turned out that I have a prolapsed disc. I cannot stand on my feet. It’s been days that I am in pain. My daughters hold my hands to reach the toilet. They put my socks on, they do everything. I wanted to go to the doctor, but I don’t have money. However the Kurdish Red Crescent’s doctor helped me and offered two sessions of physical therapy. I felt better for two days and then I felt pain again. Then I went to see a doctor – he did not take money as he knew I was displaced. For medicines, there is an organization that will bring you the medicine. I told him that it’s been days and people are waiting for medicine but they do not get it. He asked me to go to the pharmacy and I asked the pharmacist. He said my medicine costs 100,000 Syrian thousand. I felt ashamed, I did not have money to buy it. These clothes that we wear are [donations] from the people. They brought to us. We did not bring our clothes, we did not bring anything. We got a blanket from the donations and 4 people sleep on one blanket.”

• Following the SNA’s seizure of Shehba, rights association Hevdesti/Synergy has documented 128 people (including 20 women) arrested by the SNA – either in Shehba or when they had fled from Shehba back to Afrin. 52 were released after torture, 76 remain unaccounted for
• In reference to the threat of a Turkish attack on Kobane, UNICEF noted the possibility of another “displacement wave in case of escalation at the [Kobane] border”
• Addressing the position of the millions of Syrians displaced outside the country, the UNHCR said in a statement that they are currently “not promoting large-scale voluntary repatriation to Syria” due to “a large-scale humanitarian crisis, continued high levels of internal displacement and widespread destruction and damage of homes and critical infrastructure”

Intra-Kurdish diplomatic developments

• SDF Commander-in-Chief, Mazloum Abdi, met with the Kurdish National Council (ENKS) today, “to discuss the establishment of a unified Kurdish stance in the new Syria”. ENKS spokesperson, Faysal Yusuf, said the meeting “went well” and that another meeting would follow.
• Sheikh Murshid – the son of a famous Kurdish sheikh killed by the Assad regime in 2005 – has returned to his home after living years outside of the country, seeking to partake in charting a better path for Syria. He has so far met with Mazloum Abdi, ENKS and the influential Arab Shammar tribe, whose Sanadid militia form a part of the SDF.
• In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the Kurdish PUK leader Bafel Talabani praised Mazloum Abdi’s efforts to “preserve stability” in Syria