Turkish jets have struck US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia north of the embattled city of Aleppo, claiming to have killed as many as 200 militia members, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported yesterday.
A senior commander of the main Syria Kurdish militia, which has been supported by the US, said Turkish jets and artillery were attacking his forces north of Aleppo, but disputed the casualty count, saying no more than 10 of his fighters were killed so far.
Mahmoud Barkhadan, commander of the People’s Protection Units, told reporters that Turkish tanks have been shelling the Kurdish-led forces in the area since early Wednesday.
Photo: Reuters
Jets joined overnight and continue to pound his forces in the area, he said, adding that more than 30 aerial attacks had taken place so far and that early reports suggest no more than 10 fighters were killed and 20 were wounded.
There was no immediate word on civilian casualties.
The bombardment was a major escalation by Turkey just as the offensive to recapture the city of Mosul from Islamic State militants in Iraq was intensifying. Iraqi Kurdish forces have carried the brunt of the fighting so far in the Mosul offensive.
Kurdish forces in Syria have also carried out most of the fighting against the Islamic State and made significant territorial gains, including advances in the past few days against militants in Aleppo province, much to Turkey’s fury in recent months.
Turkey, which is dealing with a homegrown Kurdish insurgency, has been trying to prevent an expansion of Kurdish influence in Syria.
“We will not back down,” Barkhadan said in a telephone interview from the area.
He accused Turkey of aiding the Islamic State group by diverting the fight into a Turkish-Kurdish one.
“We are fighting DAESH, why are they striking at us?” he asked, using an Arabic-language acronym for the Islamic State.
In Aleppo, a “humanitarian pause” took effect yesterday in the Syrian army’s Russian-backed assault on rebel-held areas, but it was tested by fighting in a corridor opened for civilians to flee.
The army said it was opening eight corridors to provide safe passage for those leaving, but the unilateral ceasefire suffered an early blow when clashes broke out at one of them, a photographer said.
Artillery exchanges erupted around the crossing point on the front line in the city center, the photographer said.
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