Turkey in fierce clashes with Kurds in Syria
THE Turkish army was yesterday engaged in intense clashes with Kurdish militia inside Syria as the United States voiced alarm Ankara’s operation could endanger attempts to bring peace to the conflicttorn country.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed at the funeral of the first Turkish soldier to be killed in the cross-border campaign that Ankara would emerge victorious from the campaign.
Turkey on Saturday launched operation “Olive Branch” aimed at rooting out the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Ankara sees as a terror group, from its Afrin enclave in northern Syria. The campaign has caused ripples of concern among Turkey’s NATO allies, especially the United States which is still working closely with the YPG to defeat Islamic State jihadists in Syria and fears the offensive will be a distraction.
In his strongest comments yet on the offensive, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called for Turkey to show “restraint”.
He warned the offensive “disrupts what was a relatively stable area in Syria and distracts from the international effort to defeat” IS, on a visit to Indonesia.
Turkish artillery yesterday pounded targets of the YPG inside Syria, the staterun Anadolu news agency said. Meanwhile, Turkish drones were also carrying out attacks, state television said.
As well as the artillery and air strikes, Turkish ground troops and Ankarabacked Syrian rebels have punched over the border several kilometres into Syrian territory, taking several villages, according to state media.
After intense exchanges, Turkey’s forces took control of the hill of Barsaya, a key strategic point in the Afrin region.
The Observatory said 25 Ankara-backed rebels and 26 Kurdish fighters had been killed in the fighting so far. It has also said 24 civilians have been killed on the Syrian side but this is vehemently rejected by Turkey which says it is only targeting militants.
A Turkish soldier was killed Monday on the third day of the offensive, the first Turkish military fatality of the operation.
The campaign – which Erdogan has made clear has no fixed timetable – is fraught with risks for Turkey.
Two civilians have been killed inside Turkey in border towns in the last two days by rocket fire from Syria blamed on the YPG.