UN Syria report cites killing of civilians in suspected Turkish drone strikes

A recent United Nations report on Syria stated that civilians have been killed by suspected Turkish drone strikes, and Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) members may have committed the war crime of murder, torture and cruel treatment.

The Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, released on Monday, said:

"The Commission has reasonable grounds to believe that Syrian National Army members continued to arbitrarily deprive individuals of liberty and may have committed the war crime of torture and cruel treatment. The killing of the Kurdish men in Jindayris may amount to the war crime of murder (...) Turkiye remains bound by its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law, including to prevent torture when its officials are present."

The report also cited deadly air strikes in which civilians were killed by suspected Turkish drones:

"Military activity and mutual bombardment between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Turkish Armed Forces increased towards the end of the reporting period, after a post-earthquake lull. Ground and aerial attacks leading to civilian deaths and injuries continued in Aleppo, Hasakah and Raqqah governorates and were frequent in Ayn al-Arab and villages neighbouring Tall Tamr."

It continued:

"In one incident on 18 January, a likely Turkish guided air-to-ground missile –apparently fired from a drone– hit a pickup truck in the early afternoon, just outside a countryside supermarket, partially destroyed in the attack, on the Qamishli-Malkiyah road, 7 km east of Qahtaniyah town. Two men inside the pickup truck were killed, as were a civilian man and 11-year-old boy inside the supermarket. Several other civilians were injured, including children. In another incident, on 20 June, which remains under investigation, a similar alleged Turkish strike reportedly killed three civilians (two women and one man) and injured one civilian man."