Deaths rising on third day of offensive
AKCAKALE, Turkey — Turkish forces faced fierce resistance from U.S.allied Syrian Kurdish fighters on the third day of Ankara’s offensive in northern Syria, as casualties mounted, international criticism of the campaign intensified and estimates put the number of those who fled the violence at 100,000.
Turkey said it captured more Kurdishheld villages in the border region, while a hospital in a Syrian town was abandoned and a camp of 4,000 displaced residents about 7 miles from the frontier was evacuated after artillery shells landed nearby.
Reflecting international fears that Turkey’s offensive could revive the Islamic State group, two car bombs exploded outside a restaurant in the Kurdishcontrolled urban center of Qamishli, killing three people, and the extremists claimed responsibility.
Kurdish fighters waged intense battles against advancing Turkish troops that sought to take control of two major towns along the TurkishSyrian border, a war monitor said.
The United Nations estimated the number of displaced at 100,000 since Wednesday, saying that markets, schools and clinics also were closed. Aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian crisis, with nearly a halfmillion people at risk in northeastern Syria.
On Sunday, President Trump cleared the way for Turkey’s air and ground invasion after he announced his decision to pull American troops from their positions near the border.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Washington is “greatly disappointed” by the offensive, which has badly damaged already frayed relations with NATOally Turkey. In a strong statement of support for the Kurds, Esper insisted that “we are not abandoning our Kurdish partner forces, and U.S. troops remain with them in other parts of Syria.”
The Turkish Defense Ministry said four of its soldiers have been killed since Wednesday, with three wounded. Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said 342 “terrorists” — Ankara’s term for Syrian Kurdish militiamen — have been killed so far. The figure could not be independently verified.
The Kurdishled force said 22 of its fighters were killed since Wednesday.
The Kurdish militia has fired dozens of mortars into Turkey in the past two days, including Akcakale, according to officials in two provinces on the Turkish side. They said at least 17 civilians were killed in the shelling, including a 9monthold boy and three girls under 15.