Syrian Democratic Council of North and East Syria demand impartial international investigation into bombing of Cafrin (Afrin) hospital bombing

CAFRIN, Syria — Following the bombing of a hospital in Cafrin (Afrin) which left over a dozen people dead, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) of North and East Syria issued a statement in response to remarks made by the Turkish-backed National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces accusing Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of being responsible for the attack on the hospital.

“At a time when all Syrians are awaiting with great interest the summits of the U.S. and Russia and the U.S. and Turkey, leaders of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces have done nothing that contributes to the aspirations of the Syrian people for peace, freedom, and stability.”

“Rather,” the statement continued, “they brazenly called on their Turkish operators to occupy more Syrian lands and displace more Syrians.”

The SDC statement went on to claim that Turkey intends to sow chaos in the Syrian areas under its control with the aim of holding the SDF responsible and obstructing their main mission of fighting the Islamic State (ISIS). In addition, said the SDC, Turkey seeks to occupy more Syrian land through its proxy force, the Syrian National army (SNA), who are far from Syrian patriots and have sold themselves to Turkey.

The SDC also stated that the National Coalition brazenly expressed its bankruptcy as the Biden–Erdoğan meeting approached and accused it of intentionally targeting the hospital themselves and immediately blaming the SDF. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tried to capitalize on the attack while at the NATO summit in Brussels, referring to it as an attack on NATO’s southern border.

“Their performance was ridiculous and exposed a fragile plan that did not deceive anyone, especially since the whole world knows who the killers of innocent civilians are,” read the statement.

At the end of the statement, the SDC again denied any involvement in the attack on the hospital and for an impartial international committee to investigate the attack and for the United Nations to do more to combat the rampant criminality and lawlessness that has come to define Cafrin under Turkish control.