“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.
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Turkey has said 25 Kurdish militants were killed in its air strikes and denied there were civilian casualties.
Previously, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday Turkish warplanes had struck areas north of Manbij, a city south of Jarablus captured by Syrian Democratic Forces this month in a US -backed operation.
Turkey suffered its first fatality Saturday after a rocket attack on a tank fired by Kurdish forces. But, so far Kurdish forces appear to have borne the brunt of Ankara’s incursion as it seeks to stop the Kurds controlling a swath of territory along its border.
Turkish forces carried out their first air strikes on pro-Kurdish positions yesterday as part of what Ankara is calling “Operation Euphrates Shield”.
Turkish tanks were reported to be continuing southward after the villages fell, with their next targets the metro area around Manbij, with the Kurdish YPG and its allies captured, in a US-backed offensive that lasted over two months.
Ankara considers the YPG a “terrorist” group and has fiercely opposed its bid to expand into areas recaptured from IS to create a contiguous autonomous zone. Washington backs the SDF and YPG, seeing them as the most reliable and effective ally in the fight against Isis in Syria. He also said Turkish-backed rebels were pushing west against IS.
The Turkish-backed Nour el-din el-Zinki rebel group said fighters, backed by Turkish tanks, advanced Saturday on the village of Youssef Beik that lies southwest of Jarablus, seizing it from Kurdish-affiliated forces.
The deaths brought to 35 the number of people Turkey said had been been killed in Turkish air strikes in the area. Instead of retreating to the east side of the Euphrates River outside Manbij, YPG in recent weeks has moved to expand westward in a new land grab, according to USA and Turkish officials.
Much of the heaviest fighting this summer has focused on second city Aleppo, which is roughly divided between rebel forces and President Bashar al-Assad’s troops.
“The Kurds are the most effective force in fighting terrorism, the United States needs us”.
Fighting over the weekend continued in other parts of Syria. The groups also accused the SDF of using civilians as human shields during the fight for Amarnah. Images of other children shaking as doctors tried to treat them for the burns were posted on social media sites.
Four local fighters were also killed, the UK-based Observatory reported.
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According to residents, the escalation followed recent threats by soldiers at checkpoints that the Syrian government’s patience was running out with the district, the last rebel holdout in the city.
