Two artillery shelling in the northern Syrian town of Afrin killed at least 16 people on Saturday. First a residential area was hit and shortly afterwards a hospital. About thirty were also injured.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that a doctor, three hospital workers, three women and a child have died in the attack on the hospital.
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The city is in the hands of Turkish-backed rebels. Turkish sources say the Kurdish militia YPG, part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighting against President Assad’s regime with US support, is behind the attack. The SDF denied this.
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Regular attacks
According to the governor of the Turkish province of Hatay, bordering Afrin, the shelling came from Syrian government-controlled territory.
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Turkish soldiers regularly carry out attacks on Kurdish groups in Syria. Ankara sees the YPG as an extension of the banned workers’ party PKK and therefore as a terrorist organization. It has stationed thousands of soldiers in the area.
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