Turkish airstrikes and artillery attacks in Syria have killed at least 35 civilians and wounded dozens more on the fifth day of Turkey’s cross-border campaign against Islamic State (Isis) and Kurdish forces, according to a monitoring group.
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Military officials said PYD had launched the rockets at two Turkish tanks operating 7 kilometers south of Jarabulus.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 20 civilians were killed in Turkish strikes on the village, and that a total of 70 people were either killed or injured.
A second Turkish strike on Sunday near the town of Amarneh reportedly killed a further 15 civilians and wounded 25 more, many seriously, as jets attacked the village south of Jarablus.
US-led coalition avoided directly condemning the armed wing of the PKK’s Syrian affiliate Democratic Union Party (PYD)’s attack on Turkish tanks which resulted in the killing of one Turkish soldier and injuring three others on Saturday.
The Turkish military is “taking every precaution and showing maximum sensitivity to ensure that civilians living in the area are not harmed”, Anadolu reported.
In a statement, the YPG said the Turkish military had fired artillery on Friday night at a village near Kobani, and had also used heavy weapons to fire on YPG positions in the northwestern province of Afrin.
Fighting has also continued between Turkey-backed rebel groups and a USA -backed coalition of Kurdish and Arab forces known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The observatory said the bombardment targeted an area south of Jarabulus, a former Isis stronghold, which Turkish-led forces captured on the first day of the offensive, code named “Euphrates Shield”.
The clashes underscore Ankara’s determination to push back Kurdish forces from along its borders, and curb their ambitions to form a contiguous entity in northern Syria. But, so far Kurdish forces appear to have borne the brunt of Ankara’s incursion as it seeks to stop the Kurds controlling a swath of territory along its border.
On Sunday, Turkish forces ramped up their offensive against pro-Kurdish forces near a town wrested back from IS this week by Turkish-backed Arab rebels.
Turkey’s military said 25 Kurdish militants were killed in its air strikes.
Sunday’s operations took Turkey deeper inside Syria, into an area where the Kurdish forces that control much of the border had begun to expand.
Turkey says that the YPG – which it regards as the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – has failed to stick to a promise to return across the Euphrates River after advancing west this month despite guarantees given by Washington. However, the Turkish-backed rebels seized Jarablus first. Turkish leaders have vowed to drive both IS and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, away from the border.
That latest fighting came after suspected Kurdish fighters launched rockets at an airport in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir.
Meanwhile, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, appealed to the opposition to approve plans to deliver aid to rebel-held eastern Aleppo and government-held Aleppo through a government-controlled route north of Aleppo during a 48-hour humanitarian pause.
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The escalation against the neighborhood comes after the evacuation of Daraya, a Damascus suburb, following a deal struck with the government after a grueling bombing campaign and a tight siege.
