Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Sunday to devote equal energy to combatting Islamic State (IS) militants and Syrian Kurdish fighters, on the fifth day of a major offensive that has left dozens dead.
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Turkey is determined to stop Kurdish forces from gaining control of a continuous stretch of Syrian territory on its frontier, which observers say would embolden the Kurds’ drive for autonomy. “The Kurds are the most effective force in fighting terrorism, the United States needs us”.
The latest Turkish involvement in the Syria conflict came few days after a deadly suicide attack in the southeastern city of Gaziantep that killed at least 35 people and targeted a Kurdish wedding.
Meanwhile, security sources announced that two Turkish F-16 jets have launched raids on regions controlled by the YPG, which is part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition.
The clashes were preceded by Turkish airstrikes against bases of Kurdish-affiliated forces and residential areas at Amarneh. Rebels posted pictures from inside the village.
According to reports, the rocket was launched from territory held by Kurdish YPG forces on Saturday.
Turkey has sent tanks across the Syrian border following weeks of deadly attacks by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or the PKK, and IS.
The SDF crossed the Euphrates River and drove IS out of Manbij, a key supply hub just south of Jarablus, earlier this month.
ANHA, the news agency of the Kurdish semi-autonomous areas, said Beir Khoussa has “reportedly lost all its residents”.
The FSA, as part of the Euphrates Shield operation, also liberated a village south of Jarabulus district controlled by the PYD terrorist organization, the Syrian wing of the PKK. Two Turkish tanks hit.
Some of the fighters were killed in Sunday’s shelling and air strikes but the number was not yet clear, said the SOHR.
The rebels say they have captured at least nine towns and villages, including Jarabulus, from IS and Kurdish forces since Wednesday. But both Ankara and Damascus share concerns over Kurdish ambitions for autonomy.
Turkey’s NTV television reported that Turkish artillery had struck YPG targets throughout the night and that Turkish warplanes had carried out new bombing sorties this morning.
Others posted visuals of fighting. The rockets were fired from an area where the YPG militia were known to be active, and the Russian-made weapons are typical of those used by YPG militants.
The Syrian government and its Russian ally are the only ones operating helicopters over Aleppo.
The al-Waer neighborhood of almost 75,000 people has been under siege since March and has been one area that U.N agencies have reported hard to access.
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But some rebel groups have rejected the plan unless aid passes through opposition-held areas and the ceasefire applies to other areas of Syria under siege.
