Turkey yesterday sent more tanks into Syria to bolster a military offensive against jihadists and Kurdish fighters, as a diplomatic push for a new ceasefire in Syria gathered pace.
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The tanks were hit in the area of the Syrian town of Jarabulus, which Turkish forces helped pro-Ankara rebels seize from Islamic State (IS) group militants on Wednesday, the Dogan news agency said.
Turkey-allied Syrian rebels clashed with Kurdish-led forces in north-eastern Syria, with reports of Turkish tanks and airstrikes backing the rebels, in an escalation that further complicates the already protracted Syrian conflict.
Turkey’s leadership has made clear that its offensive is also aimed at holding back the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, which has led the fight against IS in the area. This while the Kurdish-led forces want to take al-Bab to open a corridor to the besieged town of Efrin [also known as Afrin] in northwestern Syria.
The Jarablus Military Council, supported by the US -backed and Kurdish-led Syria Democratic Forces, said the airstrikes on their bases in the village of Amarneh marked an “unprecedented and risky escalation”.
The Jarablus Military Council is supported by the USA -backed and Kurdish-led Syria Democratic Forces.
The media office of the Turkish-backed Nour al-Din al-Zinki rebel group said the Syrian rebels were backed by Turkish tanks.
The toll was confirmed by a Turkish official, without giving further details. The Jarablus Military Council, affiliated with the U.S-backed Kurdish-led Syria Democratic Forces, said the Turkish airstrikes marked an “unprecedented and risky escalation” that “endangers the future of the region”.
Wladimir van Wilgenburg, an analyst based in the nearby Kurdish-controlled city of Qamishli, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the clashes had increased throughout the day. Turkey sees the YPG militia and its Democratic Union Party (PYD) political wing, which have links to Kurdish rebels in southeast Turkey, as “terror groups” bent on carving out an autonomous Kurdish region.
It vowed to stand its ground.
Turkey on Saturday said the military suffered its first fatality in an unprecedented four day campaign inside Syria, blaming Kurdish militia in an increasingly combustible contest for control in the border region.
The state-run Anadolu news agency confirmed that the rebels were working to destroy explosives left behind by IS militants, with 20 different sets destroyed on Friday alone. Other groups which are part of the SDF vowed to support them, calling on the US-led coalition to explain the Turkish attacks on allied forces.
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. But following the Turkish offensive, local forces with Kurdish fighters and backed by YPG advisers pushed their way north of Manbij, in a rush for control of Jarablus.
Finally, Turkey has undertaken the battle against US-backed YPG joined in part by so-called moderate rebels with the only unifying tie between all parties – Turkey, the United States, the “moderate” rebels, Kurdish forces, the Assad government, and Russian Federation – is the agreement that Daesh jihadists must be stopped. It has been besieged for months with only intermittent global aid deliveries getting through.
“People are suffering and need assistance. All must put the civilian population of Aleppo first and exert their influence now”, de Mistura said in a statement, urging an approval by Sunday.
But violence raged. Suspected government helicopters dropped two barrel bombs on a wake held for children killed a few days earlier, killing at least 15, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Hayyan, a Homs resident whose parents remain in the al-Waer neighborhood, said government warplanes launched 18 airstrikes Saturday in the area, the last two of which dropped incendiary bombs.
The escalation against the neighborhood comes after the evacuation of Daraya, a Damascus suburb, following a deal struck with the government after a grueling bombing campaign and a tight siege. Meanwhile, the evacuation of Daraya, a town crushed by a four-year Syrian army siege, continued, with hundreds of fighters and their families arriving in rebel-held territory in the northwest. Minutes later, Khandakani said another barrel bomb was dropped, injuring an ambulance driver, and hampering rescue efforts.
The declaration comes a day after the evacuation of almost 5,000 residents and fighters from the suburb began. The gunmen and their families headed to the northern rebel-controlled Idlib province.
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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. The around 8,000 civilians left in the town are also being evacuated. Other civilians were escorted to shelters in government-controlled suburbs of Damascus.
