The Turkish air force carried out air strikes on an area in northern Syria controlled by Kurdish militias on Saturday evening, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It is said to be the first Turkish bombings in about seventeen months.
“A Turkish jet attacked military positions of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the village of Saida, near the town of Ain Issa,” the human rights organization said. The alleged attacks come as fighting rages on the outskirts of this strategic site. Turkish troops would have a hard time advancing.
The Kurdish militia YPG, which is part of the SDF, is seen by Ankara as an extension of the banned workers’ party PKK and thus as a terrorist organization. But YPG has also been instrumental in the armed struggle against Islamic State (IS) in Syria, with the support of the international anti-jihadist coalition.
YPG units were driven from part of northern Syria in 2019, after Turkey launched an offensive in October that year. However, Ain Issa and its surroundings remained in the hands of Kurdish troops.
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