Confirmation of the casualties among civilians also came from SDF spokesperson Shervan Darwish to AP, who said that Turkish assaults left “many civilians” dead in a village south of Jarablus.
Advertisement
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.
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 group and Kurdish militants.
AFP said Turkey on Saturday sent six more tanks into Syria as pro-Ankara forces pressed on with de-mining work in the Syrian town of Jarablus, captured from ISIS this week.
Turkish security sources said two F-16 jets bombed a site controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia, which is part of the broader US -backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition.
Ankara wants to force the Kurds to withdraw to the east of Euphrates River, stopping short of establishing a corridor to link two Kurdish-held areas in northwestern Syria, the BBC said.
According to the Observatory, Turkish artillery fire and air strikes on Jeb el-Kussa village killed at least 20 civilians and wounded 50 others.
Turkish forces carried out their first air strikes on pro-Kurdish positions yesterday as part of what Ankara is calling “Operation Euphrates Shield”.
Turkey suffered its first fatality Saturday after a rocket attack on a tank fired by Kurdish forces.
At a rally on Sunday in the southeastern city of Gaziantep, about 30 miles from the Syrian border, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that he was committed to fighting the Islamic State, but he also vowed to wipe out the main Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party, whose military wing is the YPG.
Ankara says that the YPG has failed to stick to a promise made by its U.S. allies that the militia would move back east across the Euphrates following the seizure of the town of Manbij from Daesh earlier this month.
The escalation against the neighbourhood comes after the evacuation of Daraya, a Damascus suburb, following a deal struck with the government after a gruelling bombing campaign and a tight siege.
Four local fighters were also killed, the Observatory reported. He also said Turkish-backed rebels were pushing west against IS.
Others posted visuals of fighting.
Turkish President Erodgan declared Turkey will go after Kurdish militias with the same energy as ISIL.
“Syrian Kurdish civilians here are anxious that it won’t be possible to connect the two sides and make one region”, said van Wilgenburg.
The operation started as an effort to push Isis out of the Syrian city of Jarabulus, but officials have been vocal about the twin aim to oust Kurdish militias the Government views as terrorists.
The Homs Local Council appealed to the United Nations envoy to Syria to negotiate a truce for al-Waer, condemning the government’s “siege policy” that aims to force residents and local fighters to surrender.
The Kurdish-led forces “must pull back to the east of the Euphrates”.
Advertisement
“We will not allow them to enter, we will stay here if necessary for days and months and… defend this land”, said one Kobani resident.
