Meanwhile, at least 15 civilians were killed in a barrel bomb attack on a rebel-held district of Syria’s Aleppo city on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
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The Jarablus Military Council is supported by the US -backed and Kurdish-led Syria Democratic Forces.
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 U.S. has agreed they should occupy. Mohammed al-Ayed, an activist in Babiska, a few miles from the Turkish border, said the buses were greeted with celebratory gunfire from rebel groups.
Some of the fighters were killed in Sunday’s shelling and air strikes but the number was not yet clear, said the SOHR.
There was no comment from US officials about the escalation of fighting between the two sides-both of which are USA allies.
The Saturday statement, citing military sources, comes hours after Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria said Turkish airstrikes had hit their bases near Jarablus, a town seized by Turkey-backed rebels earlier this week.
Its campaign against the Kurdish fighters puts it at odds with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally the U.S., which supports the YPG as an effective fighting force against IS.
Syrian rebels opposed to Ankara’s incursion said Turkish forces had targeted forces allied to the YPG and no Kurdish forces were in the area.
After last week’s invasion of northern Syria and the capture of the city of Jarabulus away from ISIS, Turkish officials were quick to insist that their real target was primarily the Kurds.
It came as Sky News filmed the first images of Turkish tanks operating in Syria.
Turkey said the dead were 25 “terrorists” from the YPG and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), state-run Anadolu news agency said.
It is estimated that the rocket was sacked at the tank by Kurdish rebels.
Sherwan Darwish, a spokesman for Kurdish-led forces in the village of Manbij, said on Twitter Saturday night: “While our forces fighting #IS Some #Turkey backed militias r attacking our positions & hampering our & Intl Coalition’s fight against terror”.
Officials said one of the goals of this operation is to set up a “terror-free” zone – in effect a buffer zone – to ensure the safety of Turkish citizens living along the border.
Much of the heaviest fighting this summer has focused on second city Aleppo, which is roughly divided between rebel forces and President Bashar al-Assad’s troops.
Yesterday, Turkish forces ramped up their offensive, with Turkish warplanes and artillery pounding areas held by pro-Kurdish forces close to a town liberated from IS recently.
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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.
