Reconnaissance drones of Turkey are circling over parts of the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria. According to the Hawar news agency (ANHA), the flights are focused on the canton of Afrin/Shehba.

Since the morning, large parts of the region have been overflown by the Turkish state's armed combat drones without any significant interruption. The people are worried as Turkey has already carried out around a hundred drone attacks against northern and eastern Syria since the beginning of the year.

Just three weeks ago, a civilian vehicle was attacked by a Turkish killer drone near Kobanê. The husband of Halime Mihemed Osman was at the wheel of the car, which was travelling near the village of Ênbetê (Ayn Al Batt), around twenty kilometres east of the centre of Kobanê. The women's rights activist is the spokesperson for the local branch of the organisation Sara, which campaigns against violence against women and girls. The mother of five had her right leg shattered in the attack and it has since been amputated. Osman's husband, on the other hand, was injured in the head, eye, arm and leg and, despite his injuries, he managed to free himself and his wife from the burning vehicle.

Turkey's drone war against the regions of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) began in June 2020 with the assassination of three representatives of the women's umbrella organisation Kongra Star in Kobanê. Since then, hundreds of other drone attacks have followed. According to data from the Rojava Information Centre (RIC), Turkey has already carried out at least 93 drone attacks this year, eight of which targeted vehicles. At least 26 people have been killed and a further 27 injured. The figures are likely to be higher, as the RIC only publishes confirmed cases. The RIC balance sheet for the past year lists 198 drone attacks. In these attacks, 105 people were killed and 123 injured.