Turkey-backed rebels expel Kurdish forces from Syrian towns

Despite the Observatory confirmation that all the slain were civilians, Turkey’s official statement claimed they’d only killed 25 people total, and that all were members of the Kurdish YPG.

When asked by Daily Sabah whether the coalition would condemn the attacks, the US-led Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) said “What we can say is that we encourage and expect all parties to focus their efforts on Da’esh, and we are working with our Turkish allies and our partnered forces in Syria to ensure that ISIL remains everyone’s focus”.

The monitor also said at least four Kurdish fighters had been killed and 15 injured in Turkish bombardment of the two areas.

Colonel Ahmed Osman, head of the Turkish-backed Sultan Murad rebel group, told Reuters the force was “certainly heading in the direction of Manbij” and hoped to take it days.

One of the villages to change hands was Amarneh, where clashes erupted for the first time between Turkish forces backed by tanks and pro-Kurdish fighters on Saturday. Turkey on Wednesday sent tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels retake the key Islamic State-held town of Jarablus and to contain the expansion of Syria’s Kurds in an area bordering Turkey.

Ankara fears the emergence of a contiguous autonomous Kurdish region in Syria would bolster the PKK rebels across the border in southeast Turkey.

Authorities have blamed the Islamic State group for the Gaziantep attack, but neither IS nor any other militant groups have claimed responsibility.

The Jarablus Military Council group, which is allied to the SDF, said a Turkish air strike in the village of al-Amarna caused civilian casualties and called it “a unsafe escalation that threatens the fate of the region”. They have also moved west towards Islamic State areas.

Ankara will continue its Euphrates Shield military operation in northern Syria until the threat posed by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) militants operating in the area is eliminated, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday.

There was no immediate comment from the YPG, but forces aligned with the Kurdish militia have said it withdrew from the area targeted by Turkey before the offensive.

The Anadolu Agency said Sunday the target of the rebels linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, was a police checkpoint at the Diyarbakir Airport. He said 50 Turkish tanks were taking part.

“Turkey didn’t come to fight ISIS, they came to fight us”, said Derwish, who is an ethnic Kurd and served past year as the spokesman for Kurdish forces in the Syrian town of Kobane. It was the first Turkish death reported in the campaign. Images of doctors treating other children for their burns were posted on social media sites. An aid convoy reached the area on Aug.25.

It also comes after the evacuation of Daraya, a Damascus suburb, following a deal struck with the government after a grueling bombing campaign and a tight siege.

The Homs Local Council appealed to the United Nations envoy to Syria to negotiate a truce for al-Waer, condemning the government’s “siege policy” that aims to force residents and local fighters to surrender.