DAMASCUS, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- The water supply in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah has been cut off by Turkey for a week, state news agency SANA reported Thursday.
The Turkish forces in control of the Alouk water station in the northern countryside of Hasakah cut off the supply for Hasakah and its countryside a week ago, said the report.
The Alouk station pumps water for 1 million people in Hasakah, SANA said.
All efforts to re-operate the water station have failed amid high temperatures that caused more demand for water, Mahmoud Ilkeh, head of the water establishment in Hasakah, was quoted by SANA as saying.
Government tankers are roaming the city of Hasakah to secure the residents' access to drinking water, according to SANA.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based watchdog, said the Turkish side cut off water in Hasakah as the Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, which controls much of al-Hasakah, refused to feed electricity to areas controlled by the Turkey-backed rebels.
The Kurdish administration cut off the electricity supply for the Turkey-controlled city of Ras al-Ayn in Hasakah countryside, according to the Observatory.
It's the eighth time that Turkey cut off the water in the station to exert pressure on areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Hasakah, according to the watchdog.
Turkey has captured several areas in the northern countryside of Hasakah and other Kurdish-controlled areas following an offensive in October last year.
Turkey deems the SDF as a terrorist group for its links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than 30 years. Enditem
