Days later, Ankara launched the two-pronged Syria operation with the stated aim of clearing the border area of both IS and the Kurdish fighters. The rebel force backed by Turkey were largely Arab and Turkmen. FSA sources told the agency that about 20 explosives were detonated on August 26, with the operations continuing.
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Turkey on Wednesday sent tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels retake the key Islamic State-held town of Jarablus and to contain the expansion of Syria’s Kurds in an area bordering Turkey.
A Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) spokesman Shervan Darwish said the air strikes and shelling started overnight and continued into Sunday killing many civilians in Beir Khoussa and nearby areas.
Turkish air strikes and artillery attacks have killed at least 40 civilians, and wounded dozens more, according to a group monitoring the Syrian war.
Turkey’s military struck deeper into Syria with airstrikes and artillery strikes on Sunday after the Turkish soldier died and three others were wounded on Saturday when their tank unit came under attack by Kurdish rebels, known as the YPG.
The Turkish military said it was showing the “utmost sensitivity” and taking “all necessary measures” to prevent damage to the local civilian population.
Turkish security sources said warplanes and artillery had hit Kurdish YPG militia sites near Manbij, a city south of the frontier town of Jarablus that had been captured by Kurdish-aligned SDF this month in a US -backed operation.
At least 15 civilians were killed Sunday in the village of Jeb el-Kussa (Bir Qusa) near the Syrian city of Jarablus as it was targeted by Turkish forces, an SDF representative told Sputnik.
Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have already seized five villages near Jarablus from Islamic State.
The Turkish offensive pre-empted an attempt by the Kurdish-led forces to take control of Jarablus first.
The ratcheting up of the offensive by Turkey sparked concerns that it could lead to an all-out conflict between Syrian Kurds (YPG) and Turkey, thus diverting energy and resources away from the fight against Isis.
Turkey’s military rejected that report, saying that its air strikes had killed 25 Kurdish militants that Ankara described as “terrorists”.
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A captain with the Turkish-backed Syrian rebels said the aim was to push the YPG back to the east bank of the Euphrates river, a position the United States has agreed they should occupy. Aircraft from the anti-Daesh coalition also backed the operation. Erdogan reaffirmed a previous statement that the bomber was a child aged just 14.
