Turkish officials say their goal in Syria is as much about ensuring Kurdish forces do not expand the territory they already control along Turkey’s border as it is about driving Islamic State from its strongholds.
Advertisement
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a brother and sister were killed in the airstrikes that left their bodies badly charred.
Amarneh witnessed clashes between Turkish-backed Syria militants and pro-Kurdish troops on Saturday. Turkey sent tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels capture Jarablus from the Islamic State group.
The latest fighting is likely to raise deep concerns for Turkey’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally the United States, which supports the YPG as an effective fighting force against IS.
A military source says it was 99.9 % certain that “YPG that launched the rockets”.
Turkey said one of its soldiers was killed on Saturday when a rocket that it said came from a YPG-controlled area hit a tank.
A Reuters witness in Karkamis, a Turkish border town, heard jets and artillery strike within Syria.
Additionally, four local militants were killed in the Turkish bombardment, the UK-based observatory added.
The new escalation highlights concerns that Turkey’s incursion into Syria this week could lead to an all-out confrontation between Ankara and Syrian Kurds, both American allies, and hinder the war against the Islamic State group by diverting resources. “If necessary, we will not shy away from taking responsibility in the same way in other areas”.
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. We are in coordination with global organizations. Other groups which are part of the SDF vowed to support them, calling on the U.S-led coalition to explain the Turkish attacks on allied forces.
“We will continue until we uproot this terror organization”, Erdogan told the rally.
The clashes took place eight kilometres south of the town of Jarabulus, the border town recaptured from ISIL this week by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.
Turkey says its operations in northern Syria are directed against both Islamic State and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which it regards as the Syrian branch of Kurdish rebels operating on its soil.
Turkey flexed its military muscle across the border in war-torn Syria this week by helping rebels retake the border town of Jarablus from ISIS, marking a decisive win for the Free Syrian Army.
The incursion was partly aimed at containing Kurdish-led forces. “We will fight all terrorist groups, including (the Kurdish-led fighters).in all of northeast Aleppo”, said Capt. Abdel-Salam Abdel-Razzak, a spokesman for the Nour el-Din el-Zinki group.
Turkish-backed fighters will move south of Jarablus, toward Manbij and beyond, he said.
Earlier this month, the Kurdish-led SDF crossed the Euphrates and drove IS militants out of Manbij, a key supply hub south of Jarablus, after a 10-week campaign.
Advertisement
Turkey is part of the US -led coalition fighting IS, but the airstrikes that began Saturday marked the first time it has targeted Kurdish-led forces in Syria.
