Car bombs, mortar shelling: death toll rises in Syria, Turkey

The death toll of civilians and fighters further increased on the third day of the Turkish offensive towards the Kurds in Syria. A car bomb went off in the city of Qamishli, and on the Turkish side of the border civilians were killed in a mortar attack, according to several media.

A car bomb went off outside a restaurant in the Syrian Kurdish-controlled city of Qamishli Friday, an official in the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said. The Syrian state broadcaster al-Ikhbariya, quoting its correspondent, said the blast had caused deaths and injuries.

On the other side of the border, two civilians were killed Friday in a mortar attack by Kurdish militants into Turkish territory, state news agency Anadolu said. The deaths occurred when a shell hit a house in the town of Suruc, adjacent to Kobane in Syria which is under the control of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the agency said.

Seven civilians were killed Friday by Turkish air strikes and sniper fire in northeastern Syria, a war monitor said.

"Four of them were killed when an air strike hit their car while fleeing" in Tal Abyad, Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.

The other three were killed by snipers around the border town, which has been one of the main targets of the assault Turkey and its proxies launched on Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria Wednesday.

According to the UK-based monitor, a total of 17 civilians have been killed since the start of the assault, which has also left 41 fighters from the Kurdish forces dead.

Turkey announced Friday that one soldier had been killed in the fighting.

Seven civilians including a nine-month-old baby were also killed in Turkish border towns in Sanliurfa and Mardin provinces. Nearly 70 other people were injured.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said 342 YPG "terrorists" had so far been killed in the operation, according to Anadolu.

"The operation is going as planned," he said. "We are being extremely careful to ensure no civilians are harmed."

Turkish media earlier reported that two journalists were injured by Kurdish militant fire in another border town of Nusaybin in Mardin province. Kurdish forces barraged Turkish border towns throughout Thursday, killing five civilians.

AFP