The Kurdish YPG militia – which Turkey regards as a hostile insurgent force – has exploited the situation, seizing ground from Syrian rebels to extend its presence along the border.
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In the neighboring Aleppo province, a missile struck a children’s hospital in the town of Azaz, killing at least five people and wounding dozens on Monday.
Two hospitals and a school building in northern Syria were struck Monday morning, leaving at least 22 people dead, and eight others are missing and presumed dead, according to reports.
Speaking with VOA outside Kilis hospital, he said his staff had told him the Shahid Ismail school was hit Monday in a missile strike, where many displaced families were seeking sanctuary from the Russian-backed offensive sweeping through the northern countryside of Aleppo.
“These incidents cast a shadow on the commitments made at the ISSG (International Syria Support Group) meeting in Munich on Feb 11”. France said such acts constituted war crimes.
Moscow says the strikes target IS and other “terrorists” but rights groups accuse it of causing disproportionately high civilian casualties.
“We are confident that (there is) no way could it be done by our defence forces”. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Russia and Syrian government forces were responsible for 1,195 of the 1,395 civilian deaths in Syria last month. MSF had been paying the costs of running the hospital since last September.
Davutoglu says “we won’t let Azaz fall”, adding that “the whole world should know this”.
Ahmet Davutoglu promised the “harshest reaction” if the YPG tried to capture Azaz.
The standoff has increased the risk of direct confrontation between Russian Federation and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member Turkey.
Syria’s government has not responded to the accusation.
The U.S. State Department blamed the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Russian backers.
“They are saying they want a ceasefire in a week”.
Turkey fears the Kurds will be able to create a contiguous Kurdish territory just across the border in northern Syria. It considers the YPG to be a terrorist group.
In Turkey, the private Dogan news agency reported that more than 30 of those wounded in Russian airstrikes in Azaz, primarily children, were transferred to a hospital in southern Turkey.
The Telegraph reported that Turkish military shelled Kurdish YPG fighters after the group seized a former military airbase and drove the Syrian rebels near the Turkish border. The YPG denies this. Critics of the Syrian government warned that the latest violence is yet another troubling sign that a planned “cessation of hostilities” in the war-ravaged country is far from taking hold.
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A Free Syrian Army fighter carries his weapon as he walks along the fence of the Menagh airport, July 26, 2013.
