Children killed as fighting worsens
CHILDREN on both sides were among the dead as Turkey’s invasion of Kurdishcontrolled areas of northeastern Syria intensified.
Turkish mortars killed one 12-year-old boy and ripped off a young girl’s leg as Turkey pommeled Kurdish-held towns on the second day of its assault on northern Syria.
Muhammad Yusuf Hussein and his seven-year-old sister Sarah were hit in a strike on Qamishli, the de facto capital of the unrecognised Kurdish statelet of Rojava.
On the other side of the border, Turkish authorities said four children, including a nine-month-old baby, had been killed in retaliatory fire.
The Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) posted confronting images of a distressed seven-year-old girl who died in a hospital in Qamishli as a result of Turkish bombs.
It comes as more than 60,000 people flee the fighting in an area where Turkey wants to create a 30km buffer zone, with warnings that millions could be affected by the fighting.
Turkey had rained bombs down on 181 targets in the first two days of fighting, claiming it had killed more than 174 “terrorists” but the SDF has played down those numbers.
Kurdish troops have been weakened after the United States withdrew troops, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took as a sign to step up his military efforts.
Meanwhile, the US has transferred at least 50 key Islamic State prisoners to Iraqi forces amid fears they will escape while Kurdish fighters take on Turkish forces.
The SDF was a key ally of the US in the fight against Islamic State and has more than 12,000 of its fighters locked up in prisons under its guard.
US President Donald Trump has faced criticism over his decision to withdraw from Syria, but he responded by saying the Kurds had not helped the US in Normandy during World War II.
American actor George Clooney hit out at Mr Trump, saying the US should have stayed.
“I’m horrified at the idea we would say that after having Kurds fight our battle for us – because we don’t want to send troops there – and then say: ‘OK, you’re on your own,’” Clooney said.
The United Nations Security Council failed to agree on a common statement on Turkey’s aggression after a meeting yesterday Australian time.
However, the five European council members who called the meeting urged Turkey in a joint statement afterwards “to cease the unilateral military action”.
The International Rescue Committee warned: “If the offensive continues ... a total of 300,000 people could be displaced to already overstretched camps and towns.”