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Turkish strike kills 3 members of Kurdish-allied Christian force in northeast Syria

Wednesday's drone strikes are in line with Turkey’s ongoing campaign to degrade and destroy the SDF and the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria.

Members of the Khabour Guards (MNK) Assyrian Syrian militia, affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), walk in the ruins of the Assyrian Church of the Virgin Mary, which was previously destroyed by Islamic State (IS) group fighters, in the village of Tal Nasri south of the town of Tal Tamr in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on Nov. 15, 2019.
Members of the Khabour Guards (MNK) Assyrian Syrian militia, affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), walk in the ruins of the Assyrian Church of the Virgin Mary, which was previously destroyed by Islamic State fighters, in the village of Tal Nasri south of the town of Tal Tamr in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on Nov. 15, 2019. — DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Three members of a Christian-led security contingent allied with US-backed forces fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) in northeast Syria were killed in a series of Turkish drone strikes on Wednesday, according to leaders of the group known as Sutoro.

The Turkish drones struck several vehicles carrying the men in the vicinity of Derik, also known in Arabic as al-Malikiyah, near the Turkish border. Two of the victims were Christian and one was Muslim. Two other Christians were injured in the blasts.

Sinam Sherkany Mohamad, the Washington representative of the Syrian Democratic Council that is part of the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria, told Al-Monitor she raised the issue with members of the US Congress today.

She said the strikes were "a sign that Turkey is targeting not only the Kurds but also the other ethnicities such as the Syriac Christians."

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