ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Syrian army on Wednesday continued shelling the town of Deir Hafer in eastern Aleppo, targeting civilian service facilities, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said, amid simmering tensions between the two sides.

“Damascus government forces targeted the Deir Hafer civilian bakery with a suicide drone,” read an SDF statement, asserting that the attacks directly impact “the security of civilians and their daily lives.”

It marks the second time service facilities in the town were targeted. hours earlier, the Damascus-affiliated factions attacked Deir Hafer’s post office “with artillery shells and suicide drones, without any casualties being recorded,” according to the Kurdish-led force.

The SDF stated that the attacks marked “a dangerous escalation” and reflected Damascus’ “determination to endanger the civilian population and deprive them of basic services,” describing them as a “flagrant violation of all humanitarian laws and norms.”

In the early hours on Wednesday, the SDF announced thwarting an infiltration attempt by government-linked factions in southern Deir Hafer. 

SDF positions were subsequently attacked three times in Aleppo’s Maskana and Raqqa’s Tabqa by suspected Turkish drones, with the attacks in Tabqa resulting in several injuries among the SDF ranks.

Syrian security forces in Aleppo’s al-Safira district announced that the road towards Maskana was closed “for security reasons and out of concern for the safety of civilians.”

Turkish intervention has been heavily speculated in the Kurdish-led forces' recent skirmishes with Damascus-affiliated factions around Aleppo.

The developments come against the backdrop of a recent large-scale operation launched by the Syrian government against Kurdish-led internal security forces (Asayish) in Aleppo's Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh, aiming to drive the Asayish out of the neighborhoods.

The clashes went on for six days and led to hundreds of civilian casualties and the displacement of more than 155,000 residents.