“The aim of those who are using the PYD terrorist organization to surround Turkey’s southern borders is clearly to cut Turkey’s ties with the Middle East and North Africa”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday at a ceremony marking the 1453 conquest of Constantinople, today’s Istanbul.
Advertisement
Rodi Said/ReutersA Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighter looks at makeshift tents between the Syrian and Turkish borders of residents who fled Maskana town in the Aleppo countryside, as he stands in Tel Abyad town, Raqqa governorate, Syria, June 23, 2015.
According to the statement, 104 ISIL militants were killed in the retaliation, while four rocket launchers, one howitzer, one mortar position and seven buildings used as headquarters by ISIL were destroyed.
The advances brought the militants to within few kilometers of the rebel-held town of Azaz and cut off supplies to Marea further south. Marea has always been considered a bastion of moderate Syrian revolutionary forces fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.
He said the reason the Islamic State launched suicide attacks in Turkey is to send a message to Erdogan: ISIS has sleeper cells in 70 of Turkey’s 81 cities and will not hesitate to activate them when Turkey seals off the border.
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the forces advancing against Daesh near the Turkish border in Syria are mainly YPG militia, contradicting US officials who said the operation would be mostly comprised of Syrian Arab fighters.
Fighting between the Islamic State and Syrian rebels near the Turkish border has killed at least 27 civilians and 41 combatants in the last two days.
Northwest of Azaz, a senior nurse said late Saturday that a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was closed except for emergencies.
“Fleeing civilians are being caught in crossfire and are facing challenges to access medical services, food, water and safety”, it said in a statement Saturday.
Two United Nations (UN) agencies have expressed concern about the situation of the thousands of Syrians trapped by fighting near the Turkish border.
A proposed rebel assault to retake two Islamic State strongholds in northwestern Syria is bumping up against Turkey’s opposition to Kurdish participation in the campaign.
The U.N. refugee agency said it was “deeply concerned” about the fighting affecting thousands of vulnerable civilians.
The new figure, up from 517,700, marks a further increase from a previous estimate of 486,700 people living in besieged areas.
Advertisement
Perhaps essential for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally Turkey, the operation will be overwhelmingly comprised of Syrian Arabs instead of forces with the Kurdish YPG militia, who will only represent about a fifth or a sixth of the overall force, the officials said, according to Reuters.
