Turkey air strikes, shelling kill 35 civilians in Syria

Turkey kills at least 35 villagers in airstrikes on sites held by Kurdish militia and Islamic State

At least 35 civilians were killed in Syria by Turkish shelling and air strikes, a group monitoring the Syrian war said on Sunday.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 20 people died in strikes on one village and another 15 were killed in a separate bombardment.

Turkey has not commented.

“At least 20 civilians were killed and 50 others wounded by Turkish artillery fire and air strikes on Sunday morning at Jeb el-Kussa,” a village south of Jarabulus, said Rami Abdel Rahman, who runs the Observatory.

Mr Rahman said another 15 civilians were killed and 25 wounded, many seriously, in Turkish air strikes near the town of al-Amarneh, also south of Jarablus.

Four local fighters were also killed, the Observatory reported.

On Sunday, Turkey’s army and its allies seized territory controlled by Kurdish-aligned forces on the fifth day of a cross-border campaign. It has launched a military operation to target so-called Islamic State (IS) and Kurdish militia five days ago - carrying out air strikes and sending tanks and troops into Syria.

Turkish warplanes roared into northern Syria at daybreak and its artillery pounded what security sources said were sites held by Kurdish YPG militia – a Kurdish militia backed by the United States - after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fierce overnight fighting around two villages.

Turkey's military said 25 Kurdish militants were killed in its air strikes. 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.

Turkey, which is also battling Kurdish insurgents on its own soil, sent tanks and troops into Syria on Wednesday to support its Syrian rebel allies. The Turkish-backed forces first seized the Syrian border town of Jarablus from Islamic State militants before pushing south into areas held by Kurdish-aligned militias. They have also moved west towards Islamic State areas.

Turkish officials have openly stated that their goal in Syria is as much about ensuring Kurdish forces do not expand the territory they already control along Turkey's border, as it is about driving Islamic State from its strongholds.

It fears Kurdish fighters gaining an unbroken strip of territory along its border, which would be a huge boost to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a banned Kurdish rebel group fighting for autonomy in Turkey.

On Saturday Turkey's military suffered its first fatality of the offensive, when a soldier died in a tank hit by a rocket. Turkish authorities blamed Kurdish militia for the death.

Turkey has suffered shock waves from the conflict raging in its southern neighbour, including frequent bomb attacks by Islamic State. The government suspects the jihadist group was behind a blast at a wedding this month that killed 54 people.

President Tayyip Erdogan was expected to visit the site of that wedding attack in Gaziantep, in southeastern Turkey, later on Sunday to pay his respects to families of the victims.