(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Turkish Army backed by the Syrian National Army on Friday have stepped up aerial and ground bombardment on Kurdish-led forces in northeastern Syria, following the killing of four Turkish soldiers.
Local activists said the Turkish bombing had targeted the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Tel Tamr and Ayn Issa.
The Turkish Defence Ministry said the soldiers were killed in a car bombing attack Wednesday while they were conducting road checks. The Turkish military death toll stands at 20 since October, when Turkey launched an offensive against Syrian Kurdish militants, according to AP.
Two National Army soldiers were killed along with Turkish soldiers, activists told Zaman al-Wasl.
Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, terrorists for their links to a decades-long Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey that has killed tens of thousands. The same fighters were the United States' partners on the ground in fighting the Islamic State group.
Syrian Kurds established an autonomous zone in war-torn Syria's northeast in 2012. Ankara has repeatedly said it would not allow a “terror corridor” along its borders and conducted two other cross-border military operations in northern Syria to break apart YPG-held territory. On all three offensives, the Turkish military has worked with Syrian opposition fighters, who have been accused of atrocities.
Zaman Al Wasl
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