But Turkish officials have openly stated that their goal in Syria is as much about ensuring Kurdish forces do not extend territory they already control along Turkey’s border, as it is about driving Islamic State from its strongholds.
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TURKISH SOLDIER KILLED Turkey said one of its soldiers was killed on Saturday when a rocket hit a tank that it said came from a YPGcontrolled area. But the USA also backs the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which have waged successful battles against the Islamic State and also seeks to depose Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The militants fled the town without putting up a fight. Since then, Syrian rebels have been pushing westward, chasing the Islamic State, as well as southward into areas controlled by forces aligned with the USA -backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.
However, the Turkish offensive has so far focused on forces allied to the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition that includes the YPG, an Observatory source said.
The U.S. also supports the Turkish-led campaign launched last week with Syrian Arab fighters who are rivals of the YPG. Images of other children shaking as doctors tried to treat them for the burns were posted on social media sites.
But the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 40 civilians were killed in strikes on two areas – the first report of significant civilian casualties since the start of operation “Euphrates Shield”. It was unclear whether the Turks and the monitoring group were referring to the same incident.
Turkey sees the US-backed PYD and YPG – which have links to Kurdish rebels in southeast Turkey – as terror groups and wants to keep them from taking control of the border on the Syrian side.
The fighting pits Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally, against the US -backed SDF that is the most effective ground force battling Daesh militants in Syria.
The YPG’s senior command said in a statement that it was not engaging Turkish forces “despite the losses we suffer”.
On Friday night, the YPG said Turkey’s military had fired on a village near Kobani, about 20 miles east of Jarablus. They have also moved west towards Islamic State areas. What is clear, though, is that its SDF allies have not.
A spokesman for the local Kurdish administration said 75people had been killed in both villages.
Aleppo24 said that at least 28 civilians died in Turkish airstrikes, including people in Amarneh and a family from the neighboring village of Saressat.
Turkey’s concerns about Kurdish expansion grew after the SDF drove the Islamic State from Manbij this month and then began pushing north toward Jarabulus.
Pentagon officials came into Turkey’s invasion trying to be supportive, launching a few airstrikes to support the incursion and demanding the Kurds cede some territory.
Ankara is anxious that Kurdish aspirations for a corridor linking two Kurdish enclaves in northwestern Syria could lead to an independent Kurdish state along its borders. Rebels linked to the Kurdish Worker’s Party, PKK, have been fighting for autonomy inside Turkey for decades, and a two-year cease-fire fell apart last year.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his military is committed to fighting terrorism in Syria and Iraq but is also determined to “uproot” the Syrian Kurdish group, which he called a terrorist organisation.
