(Rudaw)- Eight of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel fighters Turkey is supporting against ISIS in northwestern Syria were killed in clashes on Friday, the Turkish military announced.
Another 34 were also wounded during these clashes, according to a Turkish General Staff statement cited by Hurriyet news.
At least two ISIS militants were also killed in US-led coalition airstrikes on Friday and the Turkish military fired at 127 ISIS targets in northern Syria, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news. ISIS reportedly lost one vehicle and a heavy weapon in these bombardments.
The Turkish military has supported the FSA rebels against ISIS and the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) since intervening directly in Syria two months ago. Several were killed earlier this month in clashes with ISIS and by well-planted ISIS booby-traps in the towns they managed to capture from the militants.
Since capturing the symbolic town of Dabiq from the militants on October, 16 Turkey has declared that it will move on to al-Bab to clear that city of the militants, then move to Manbij, to force Syrian Kurdish forces back to the eastern side of the Euphrates River, before then moving on to the city of Raqqa, ISIS’ primary stronghold in Syria.
The YPG, however, has reported the Turkish forces are shelling Kurdish positions and civilians in Efrin, the western-most canton of the self-administered Rojava region in northern Syria.
On Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of local forces in northern Syria dominated by the YPG, accused Turkey and the FSA of “committing criminal acts.”
Shervan Derwish said that Turkey and its allied militias had removed all civilians from the border town of al-Rai and surrounding villages and prevented them from returning home. “We call on international agencies to visit the town of al-Rai and surrounding villages in order to investigate these crimes,” he said on Twitter.
Read More:
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.