Turkey’s official news agency says one Turkish soldier has been killed and three wounded in Syria.
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Turkey wants to stop Kurdish forces gaining control of a continuous stretch of territory along its southern border, which Ankara fears they could use to support the Kurdish militant group PKK that is fighting an insurgency on Turkish soil. “People who it belongs to are coming back”, he said.
The soldier’s death is the first reported fatality on the Turkish side.
Regarding “the PYD (Democratic Union Party) terror group in Syria, we have just the same determination”, Erdogan said, referring to the main pro-Kurdish party in northern Syria and its YPG militia.
Our correspondent said the Turkish army has been “shelling and launching air strikes” in areas controlled by the YPG.
The Jarablus Military Council group, part of the Kurdish-backed SDF, said the attack on the village of al-Amarna caused civilian casualties and called it “a unsafe escalation that threatens the fate of the region”.
An SDF spokesman Shervan Darwish said the air strikes and shelling started overnight and continued into Sunday killing many civilians in the town and nearby areas.
Earlier an SDF-affiliated group said Turkish airstrikes targeted its bases and civilian homes south of Jarablus.
The Jarablus Military Council says the airstrikes Saturday on their bases in Amarneh village marked an “unprecedented and risky escalation” and came after Turkish artillery shelled the positions the day before.
Jeb el-Kussa is located 14km (9 miles) south of Jarablus and is controlled by local fighters with support from Kurdish forces.
Government forces retook control of Daraya near the Syrian capital after rebels and civilians were evacuated following a four-year siege by regime forces, a military source said today.
A senior Syrian legislator disclosed that no real battle took place in Jarabulus and the ISIL terrorists left the city at the order of Ankara, adding that positions of the Kurdish fighters are under fire by Turkey in the meantime.
The rebels say they have captured at least nine towns and villages, including Jarabulus, from IS and Kurdish forces since Wednesday.
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But most fighting so far has appeared to be with rebels aligned to the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a broad grouping that includes the YPG, rather than Isis. In general, those USA special operations forces have close contact with their Turkish counterparts, and they rely on Turkey for their rear supply lines, according to people familiar with the situation.
