Was Ankara, the capital of Turkey, recently bombarded by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)? No, that's not true. Ankara was not bombarded, but on June, 10, 2023, there was a blast in a rocket and explosives factory in the city, that led to the death of five workers.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok by @alaaosman1978 on June, 11, 2023, under the title "Breaking! Artillery bombardment on Turkey and major casualties in Ankara today."
The person in the video claimed:
There has been an artillery bombardment on Turkey from Northern Syria and especially from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and some rockets have fallen inside Turkey's territories, close to Bab Al Salam border point.
(Translation from Arabic by Lead Stories staff).
This is what the post looked like on the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tuesday June 13 11:09: 23 2023 UTC)
In the past few days, there has been an exchange of shelling between SDF and Turkey on the border. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights noted on June, 11, 2023:
Missiles fired from areas of Kurdish and regime forces in northern Aleppo countryside hit two military bases of Turkish forces in northern Aleppo countryside, where ten shells hit Kaljebrin base and ten others hit a Turkish base near Bab Al-Salama crossing on borders with Turkey. However, no casualties were reported.
While Ankara has not been a target of these exchange of shelling, on June, 10, 2023, a huge explosion due to a blast in a rocket and explosives factory in Ankara led to the death of five workers. "The explosion was the result of a chemical experiment, according to the technical staff," the regional governor Vahap Shahin told reporters.
Moreover, there has been no mention of any sort of attack on Ankara on the official websites of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, or of the Turkish Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense.
