Turkish aircraft kills 11 civilians in double-tap strike in Teqil Beqil (Derik)

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Turkish aircraft kills 11 civilians in double-tap strike in Teqil Beqil (Derik)

On the 20th of November at approximately midnight, the Turkish state carried out an airstrike on a vehicle in the village of Teqil Beqil near Dêrik. Two civilians were killed in the attack, one of them a guard working at the local power plant. After this first attack, nearby civilians mobilised at the scene to look for wounded. On the site of the attack, the civilians delivered a short press statement which was recorded by the ANHA News Agency. In this statement the people are expressing their anger and drawing attention to the American base that is situated in close proximity to the place of the attack. They go on to condemn the silence of the coalition forces to the attacks of the Turkish state that are targeting and killing civilians. The press statement is documented at the beginning of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLhnQSyjp5w&t=134s

Soon after this press statement was recorded, the Turkish aircraft returned to carry out further airstrikes at the same site, targeting the very civilians who came to help the casualties of the first attack. In the three more airstrikes that followed the initial attack, nine of those first response civilians were killed. Among them was the ANHA journalist İsam Ebdullah. Three more civilians were wounded. The name of the eleven civilians killed in the attacks are as follows: Hediye Abdullah, İsam Ebdullah (ANHA journalist), Nuri Chiftchi, Hisen Xilto, Hisen Eli, Chichek Haruni, Ebid Xalid, Helal Qasim, Mazin Ose, Fayz Ebdulah, Mehmud Eli.

This is not the first time that Turkey is using the tactic of “double-tap” strikes in North and East Syria. This tactic sees the return of an aircraft to the scene of an attack to make further attacks after some minutes. Thus intentionally targeting the civilian first responders who gather at the scene to help wounded survivors. Other cases are documented in this article: https://npasyria.com/en/82827/

David Eubank from the Free Burma Rangers went to the site of the attack in the same night and documented what he saw:
https://youtu.be/qHk3ewDW54g
Another video of the aftermath of the attack can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKZfOB3vGfQ

65 villages in the vicinity of Teqil Beqil remain without power since the Turkish airstrikes destroyed the local power plant. The residents of Dêrik held a funeral ceremony for the eleven people that were martyred during the attack. Thousands of people from the Jazira region joined the funeral and bid farewell to their neighbors, friends and family members.

The Rojava Information Center spoke with survivors and witnesses of the attack. Their testimonies can be found here: https://rojavainformationcenter.com/2022/11/witness-testimonies-from-turkeys-double-tap-attack-on-teqil-beqil/