Terrified residents flee as Turkish attacks continue into Syria

PANIC: Thousands of refugees gather on border after day of constant air raids and artillery bombardments

Turkey is continuing its assault against Kurdish forces in northern Syria for a second day, pounding the region with air strikes and an artillery bombardment that raised columns of black smoke in a border town and sent panicked civilians scrambling to get out.

Residents fled with their belongings loaded into cars, pick-up trucks and motorcycle rickshaws, while others escaped on foot.

The UN refugee agency said tens of thousands of people are on the move, and aid agencies have warned nearly half a million people near the border are at risk.

The Turkish air and ground assault was launched three days after US President Donald Trump opened the way by pulling American troops from their positions near the border alongside their Kurdish allies.

Mr Trump urged Turkey to be moderate in its approach and safeguard civilians.

But the opening barrage showed little sign of holding back and the Turkish Defence Military said its jets and artillery had struck 181 targets.

More than a dozen columns of thick smoke rose in and around the town of Tel Abyad, one of the offensive’s first main targets.

Turkish officials said the Kurdish militia had fired dozens of mortars into Turkish border towns over the past two days, including Akcakale, killing at least six civilians including a nine-month-old boy.

On the Syrian side, seven civilians and eight Kurdish fighters have been killed since the operation began, according to activists.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 109 “terrorists” were killed in the offensive, a reference to the Syrian Kurdish fighters.

But reports from the area did not indicate anything remotely close to such a large number of casualties.

Mr Erdogan also warned the European Union not to call Ankara’s incursion into Syria an “invasion”, and renewed a threat to “open the gates” and let Syrian refugees flood into Europe.

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the military intends to move 19 miles into northern Syria and that its operation will last until all “terrorists are neutralised”.

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Kurdish militia have fired dozens of rockets into Turkish border towns killing at least six civilians

A Turkish soldier watches armoured vehicles heading into Syria. Getty.