Turkish ground troops have stepped up their offensive against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, seizing villages and continuing an aerial bombardment of Syrian towns close to the border.
Bombing near residential areas had forced thousands of people to flee, said the Kurdish Red Crescent, a local humanitarian organisation, which said 10 civilians had been killed in the past 24 hours.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, said 109 militants had been killed in the operation against Kurdish forces, which Ankara accuses of terrorism. The Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces said three fighters had died.
The SDF, armed and equipped by the US and other western allies to battle Isis, the Sunni jihadi group, in north-east Syria, are fighting back against the Turkish advance. Two civilians were killed by rocket and mortar fire from Syria that hit the Turkish border town of Akcakale, according the region’s governor, including a nine-month old baby boy.
More than a dozen other civilians were hurt when mortar fire hit four Turkish towns, Anadolu news agency said.
Ankara has said it wants to push Kurdish fighters that it considers terrorists away from its borders and create a safe zone that Syrian refugees in Turkey can return to. But the long-anticipated offensive has sparked an international backlash, amid concerns over the threat to civilians and Kurdish forces — which have helped the international fight against Isis — and fears that the operation could enable the resurgence of the jihadist group.
Mr Erdogan has reacted angrily to European criticism, reiterating his threat to let Syrian refugees enter Europe if Brussels continued to oppose his military actions. “If they try to describe our operation as an occupation, our work is easy. We’ll open our gates and send you 3.6m refugees,” Mr Erdogan said in a speech to members of his political party. The EU has called on Turkey to stop the military incursion.
The attack, which began on Wednesday, came days after US troops left the border area, giving an apparent green light for the Turkish operation. President Donald Trump has threatened to “destroy and obliterate” Turkey’s economy if it takes actions he deems “off-limits”.he has also said Ankara must take responsibility for Isis captives, previously seen as the responsibility of Kurdish fighters.
