Syria: Turkish attacks killed 27 civilians, reports Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) stated that 27 civilians were killed in Turkish attacks in northern and eastern Syria, in retaliation for the attack that killed five people in Ankara on Wednesday.
“Twenty-seven civilians were killed in 45 drone attacks in northern and eastern Syria,” said the OSDH, based in the United Kingdom and with a vast network of sources in Syria, in a statement.
Since Thursday night, “Turkish forces have considerably intensified air and ground attacks in northern and eastern Syria,” he added.
Kurdish forces had already reported the deaths of 12 civilians, including two children.
“In addition to populated areas, Turkish warplanes and drones targeted bakeries, power plants, oil installations and internal security forces checkpoints. [curdas]”, declared, in a statement, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the armed wing of the Autonomous Administration supported by the United States.
Turkish authorities confirmed, this Thursday, that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was responsible for the attack that left, on Wednesday, near Ankara, five dead and more than 20 injured.
In response, Turkish authorities have been carrying out attacks against PKK positions in Iraq and Syria.
Turkey considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which dominates the SDF, as a branch of the PKK, which it classifies as a “terrorist group”.
The Turkish army, which controls several areas of northern Syria after expelling Kurdish forces, regularly carries out attacks in Kurdish-controlled areas.
