QAMISHLI, Syria — A
Turkish drone strike Tuesday hit a base in northeast Syria used
jointly by Kurdish forces and the US-led coalition, the Kurds and a war monitor
said.
اضافة اعلان
“A joint base north
of Hasakeh used for planning and executing joint operations against (Daesh) has
been hit by a Turkish drone,” SDF spokesman Farhad Shami, told AFP.
A Britain-based
monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, confirmed that two
SDF fighters had been killed.
Since Turkey
launched a new air campaign against Kurdish rebel targets across Iraq and Syria
on Sunday, it has come under massive pressure from Washington to hold off on a
long-threatened ground operation into Syria.
“We urge
de-escalation in Syria to protect civilian life and support the common goal of
defeating ISIS,” US State Department spokesperson
Ned Price said late Monday.
Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has voiced growing defiance in the face of the US
warnings, promising on Tuesday that the air campaign will be followed by a
ground offensive “soon”.
“We have been on
top of terrorists for a few days with our planes, cannons and drones,” Erdogan
said in a televised address. “God willing, we will root out all of them soon
with our tanks, artillery and soldiers.”
Dubbed Operation
Claw-Sword, the air raids followed a bombing in Istanbul that killed six people
and wounded 81.
Ankara blamed the
attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), but the group, which is
blacklisted as a terror group by the EU and the US, has denied that it was
responsible.
In Syria, the
principal target of the Turkish campaign is the Kurdish People’s Protection
Units (YPG), who dominate the SDF.
Washington forged a
close alliance with the SDF during their successful campaign to oust
Daesh from
Syrian territory.
But Ankara regards
it as a terror group linked to the PKK.
In a veiled
reference to Washington Tuesday, Erdogan said his government knew “who
protects, arms, and encourages those terrorists”.
“The road has come
to an end for those who think they can keep Turkey waiting by playing with
letters and changing the name of the terrorist organization,” he added.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
