The fighting killed 20 civilians in Jub al-Kousa and 15 in al-Amarna, while scores more were wounded, the group said.
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Turkish warplanes roared into northern Syria at daybreak and its artillery pounded what security sources said were sites held by Kurdish YPG militia – a Kurdish militia backed by the United States – after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fierce overnight fighting around two villages.
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Turkish security sources said warplanes and artillery had hit Kurdish YPG militia sites near Manbij, a city south of the frontier town of Jarablus that had been captured by Kurdish-aligned SDF this month in a US -backed operation.
The Britain-based group said four local fighters were also killed in the bombardment.
But Turkey considers the YPG a “terrorist” group and vehemently opposes its attempts to create a contiguous autonomous zone along its border, fearing it could strengthen the Kurdish rebels fighting the state in southeast Turkey.
In a statement Saturday, Kurdish forces accused Ankara of seeking to “expand its occupation” inside Syria.
Some observers have raised concerns that the push into Jarablus will be used as a bridgehead to take on Kurdish-allied forces that have occupied positions in northern Syria. The Jarablus Military Council has aligned itself with the SDF, which encompasses several militias including Arabs and the Kurdish YPG group.
On Saturday, the last rebel fighters were evacuated from the town of Daraya just outside Damascus, under a deal that followed a brutal 4-year government siege.
Russia, a staunch ally of Assad’s regime, has been backing government forces with air strikes on rebel-held areas.
On Saturday, a Turkish soldier was killed and 3 more wounded in a Kurdish attack south of Jarabulus.
The Jarablus Military Council, supported by the USA -backed and Kurdish-led Syria Democratic Forces, said the airstrikes on their bases in the village of Amarneh marked an “unprecedented and risky escalation”.
Turkish forces deny that any of their military vehicles have entered Kobani; rather, they say their forces are protecting construction vehicles as they dig the foundation for a border wall adjacent to the city.
Turkey now has dozens of tanks and hundreds of soldiers on the ground in Syria and is ready to send more, media reports have said. The gunmen and their families headed to the northern rebel-controlled Idlib province.
Turkey blamed the attack on the Islamic State group.
The Turkish-backed militants seized Jarablus from Daesh in the operation, which was backed by U.S. and Turkish fighter jets.
The US supports Syria’s main opposition alliance and some other rebel factions.
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Syrian activists say government war planes have attacked a besieged area in the central city of Homs with incendiary bombs that killed two children and left one badly burned.
