One Turkish soldier was killed and three wounded in a Kurdish rocket attack in Jarablus, Syria, according to Turkey’s official news agency.
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Daraya was the last remaining rebel holdout in the region known as western Ghouta – and the closest to the capital.
The new escalation highlights concerns that Turkey’s incursion into Syria this week could lead to an all-out confrontation between Ankara and Syrian Kurds, both American allies, and hinder the war against the Islamic State group by diverting resources.
“The second and final convoy of rebels and civilians came out of Daraya today”, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Syrian rebel-groups backed by Turkey say they are clashing with fighters affiliated with Kurdish forces in northern Syria, in a bid to wrestle control of territory from them south of a town they recently seized from Islamic State militants.
Hundreds of fighters and their families were bused north into rebel-held territory in Idlib province.
The group claimed to have captured two Kurdish fighters. Other civilians were escorted to shelters in government-controlled suburbs of Damascus.
Turkey’s government, which is fighting a Kurdish insurgency at home, has said the Syrian campaign launched this week is as much about targeting Islamic State as it is about preventing Kurdish forces filling the vacuum left when Islamists withdraw. Pro-Kurdish officials described the attack as “a risky escalation that threatens the fate of the region”.
Helped by Turkish forces, the rebels retook the town, which had been in IS hands since 2013, without a fight.
Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have extended their control beyond Jarablus, seizing five nearby villages from Islamic State, Turkish security sources said.
Ankara says that the YPG has failed to stick to a promise to return across the Euphrates river after advancing west this month despite guarantees given by US Vice President Joe Biden on a visit to Ankara on Wednesday.
It said regime aircraft had dropped two explosive-packed barrel bombs several minutes apart on the Maadi district of eastern Aleppo.
The rebels said they were forced to give up the town, which was one of the first to rise up against the government, accusing Damascus of using “starve or surrender” tactics.
In response to the alleged Turkish strike on al-Amarna, the Jarablus Military Council said, “If [the Turks] do not attack our forces, then we will keep the border strip secure”.
The Jarablus Military Council, which is allied with the SDF, said the air strikes in Amarneh marked an “unprecedented and risky escalation” after Turkish artillery shelling targeted Kurdish YPG forces, the backbone of the SDF alliance, the day before.
Turkish officials had no immediate comment on the report which, if confirmed, would signal Turkey’s action against Kurdish-aligned forces was being ratcheted up a notch.
Several militias under the SDF banner pledged support to Jarablus Military Council after it reported the Turkish bombing.
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Tension has mounted in Syria’s Aleppo region in the past year between the U.S-backed Kurdish YPG force and its allies on one hand and Turkish-backed rebel groups on the other. Turkey sent tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels capture Jarablus from the Islamic State group.
