- Background
Since 8 January 2025, 24 civilians have been killed, including three journalists and a theater actor, while more than 200 others have been injured in a series of airstrikes primarily conducted by Turkish forces allied with the Syrian National Army (SNA) factions they support. According to Medya News, these airstrikes, which mainly utilize drones, have targeted the Tishrin Dam and its surrounding areas.
For nearly three months, civilians, some of whom were prompted by calls from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), have gathered at the Tishrin Dam to protest air and artillery bombardments of the dam and its surroundings by allied forces. They voice their concerns about the potential collapse of the dam, which is a vital facility for their survival. The first protest convoy arrived at the dam on 8 January 2025. Unfortunately, it was targeted by a Turkish drone strike that killed five civilians, including Karam Ahed Shehab, an administrator in the Zenobia Women’s Gathering, and injured 15 others, according to a statement from the AANES.
The Tishrin Dam, located on the Euphrates River near the city of Manbij in the Aleppo countryside, has become a battleground between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the SNA factions. The conflict escalated after the SNA took control of Manbij as part of Operation Dawn of Freedom, which was launched on 30 November 2024.
The SNA factions continued their shelling of the Dam, despite their official integration into the Syrian Ministry of Defense as part of the Syrian Interim Government. This integration followed the Victory Conference held on 29 January 2025, and the government’s signing, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, of an agreement with the SDF on 11 March 2025, which stipulated a ceasefire across all Syrian territory. On 22 March 2025, the vicinity of the Dam experienced heavy artillery shelling. This action appears to align with Türkiye’s stance regarding the aforementioned agreement. A Turkish military source indicated that the Turkish army was closely monitoring the situation and stated that the agreement “did not change Türkiye’s commitment to fighting terrorism in Syria.” Furthermore, Türkiye remains determined to demand the dissolution of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a key component of the SDF, which Türkiye views as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Syria, a group it classifies as a terrorist organization.
The Dam has been out of service since 10 December 2024, due to damage, according to UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric. He stated that this situation has disrupted access to water and electricity for more than 410,000 people in the Manbij and Ayn al-Arab/Kobani areas. A report from the Northeast Syria NGO Forum confirmed this, noting that clashes near the dam have endangered approximately 20,000 residents in ten neighboring villages. As a result, many families have fled to nearby villages, where they now confront overcrowding and increasing safety concerns.
Several international organizations have condemned the attacks on the Dam. In a report examining some of these strikes, Hiba Zayadin, a senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), stated,
“The SNA and Turkish forces have demonstrated a clear and troubling pattern of unlawful attacks against civilians and civilian objects and even appear to be celebrating them. Türkiye, as the SNA’s main backer, has an obligation to rein in the SNA’s abusive behavior or risk complicity in their crimes.”
The attacks on the Dam align with the broader pattern of assaults against civilians and civilian infrastructure in areas controlled by the AANES. Since 2022, the Turkish military has conducted intensive air campaigns utilizing drones and warplanes. These operations have specifically targeted civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities and power plants, significantly affecting residents’ access to water and electricity. One of the most recent campaigns took place between 24 and 26 October 2024, resulting in the deaths of 14 civilians. During this operation, Turkish forces struck several vital facilities that they had previously targeted multiple times, partially or completely destroying them throughout 2023 and early 2024. In a report on these Turkish attacks, the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria (COI-Syria) noted that the killings of civilians in targeted aerial attacks, fitting a pattern of Turkish drone strikes, may amount to war crimes.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has issued a warning that if the dam is damaged, the resulting humanitarian consequences could be catastrophic. The release of floodwaters may lead to significant environmental damage. They emphasized that, “Civilian objects must not be subject to attacks or reprisals. Attacks may only be directed against military objectives. Tishreen Dam in Aleppo governorate is part of Syria’s critical infrastructure. Dams have special protection under international humanitarian law (IHL).”
In the present report, Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) provides details on several airstrikes and shelling attacks that targeted the area near the Tishrin Dam, including incidents on 16 and 18 January 2025. The report also explores the motivations of civilians who participated in protests at the site, emphasizing the Dam’s significance as a civilian location and the damage it suffered as it became a frontline. This report is based on 11 testimonies obtained from eyewitnesses to the attacks, including the injured and relatives of victims, as well as employees of the AANES who are familiar with the Dam’s condition. These individuals requested that their identities and identifying information be kept confidential for security reasons. As a result, pseudonyms have been used to reference the sources when quoting their testimonies.
The attacks on the Dam represent just one aspect of the suffering endured by the residents of Manbij. Since the SNA took control of the city on 8 December 2024, there has been a significant increase in human rights violations, including summary executions, killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture. Furthermore, the severe security instability has greatly impacted civilians. During this time, the city has experienced at least seven explosions, five of which resulted in casualties. The deadliest event occurred on 3 February 2025, when a car bomb killed 21 women and one man, all of whom were civilians.
Image 1. Contrails of Turkish drone circling over the Tishrin dam front. Captured by the Sentinel-2 satellite on 26 January 2025. Credit: This Week in Northern Syria.
Image 2. Military control map during clashes in the vicinity of Tishrin Dam.
To read the full report in PDF format, click here .