Turkish officials say their goal in Syria is as much about ensuring Kurdish forces do not expand the territory they already control along Turkey’s border as it is about driving the Islamic State group from its strongholds.
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At least 35 civilians were killed, according to activists. The fighting pits a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally against a USA -backed proxy that is the most effective ground force battling IS in Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his military is committed to fighting terrorism in Syria and Iraq but is also determined to “uproot” the Syrian Kurdish group, which he called a terrorist organisation.
“For the issue of the PYD [Democratic Union Party] terror group in Syria, we have just the same determination”, he added, referring to the main pro-Kurdish party in northern Syria and its People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia. Turkey sent tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels capture Jarablus from the Islamic State group. That’s why we are present in Jarablus.
However, the Turkish offensive has so far focused on forces allied to the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition that includes the YPG, an Observatory source told Reuters. We are equally resolute regarding PYD.
The SDF, which is spearheaded by the YPG, a Syrian Kurdish militia, has been lauded by both Russian Federation and the West as one of the most effective forces fighting Isis, and has received extensive U.S. support. “Our struggle will continue until we root out this terrorist organisation”.
Dozens of people were killed in Turkish bombardment in Syria on Sunday as Ankara ramped up its unprecedented offensive inside the country against the Islamic State and Kurdish militants.
Separately, the Turkish prime minister’s office said 10 villages around Jarabulus and three around Al-Rai, further to the west along the Turkish border, had been liberated by the FSA. “We can not let this happen”, he said. Targeting the Kurdish forces also could fuel friction with Washington, which views the SDF and the YPG as its most effective partners against the Islamic State.
The state-run agency did not say if fire was from artillery or war planes or which groups were targeted.
The YPG said last week its fighters had withdrawn from the Manbij area, saying their presence there could not be used as a pretext for an attack.
Shervan Darwish, a spokesman for the US -backed and Kurdish-led Syria Democratic Forces, says the airstrikes and shelling started overnight and continued Sunday along the front line, killing civilians in a village south of Jarablus. He said 50 Turkish tanks were taking part. It also condemned what it said was worldwide silence regarding “Turkish occupation” of Syria.
The Observatory said government forces on Sunday resumed shelling and air strikes on the rebel-held Waer district of Homs city, killing three people and wounding another 20.
Earlier reports said the village of Jub al-Kousa, located almost nine miles south of Jarabulus and controlled by fighters backed by Kurdish forces, had also suffered fatalities.
The neighborhood came under a grueling airstrike campaign a day earlier, including incendiary bombs that left two children, a brother and sister, badly charred.
Others posted visuals of fighting. It also seems that many people are speculating that this move of the Turks was coordinated with the Russians and the Iranians and even with the Syrian government which has issued what seems to be mainly a pro forma objection to their incursion.
The al-Waer neighborhood of almost 75,000 people has been under siege since March and has been one area that U.N agencies have reported hard to access.
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But some rebel groups have rejected the plan unless aid passes through opposition-held areas and the ceasefire applies to other areas of Syria under siege. The deal followed an extensive government campaign of aerial bombing and shelling of Daraya, the last bastion against President Bashar Assad in the western Ghouta region, southwest of Damascus.
