Turkish army thrusts deeper into Syria, monitor says 35 villagers killed

Mon Aug 29, 2016 | 3:11 AM EDT Turkish army thrusts deeper into Syria, monitor says 35 villagers killed Turkey's militant pursuit will be unrelenting: Erdogan Turkish army thrusts deeper into Syria, monitor.. By Umit Bektas | KARKAMIS, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey's army and its allies thrust deeper into Syria on Sunday, seizing territory controlled by Kurdish-aligned forces on the fifth day of a cross-border campaign that a monitoring group said had killed at least 35 villagers. Turkish warplanes roared into northern Syria at daybreak and artillery pounded what security sources said were sites held by the Kurdish YPG militia, after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fierce overnight fighting around two villages. Turkey said 25 Kurdish militants were killed in its air strikes and denied there were civilian casualties. There was no immediate comment from the YPG, but forces aligned with the group have said it had withdrawn from the area prior to the assault. Turkey, which is also battling Kurdish insurgents at home, 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 say 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. However, the Turkish offensive has so far focused on forces allied to the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition that includes the YPG, an Observatory source said. The SDF has support from the United States -- which sees the group as an effective Syrian ally against Islamic State, putting Turkey at odds with a fellow NATO member and further complicating Syria's five-year-old civil war. The conflict began as an uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has since drawn in regional states and world powers. CIVILIANS KILLED, SCORES WOUNDED The Observatory, a Britain-based monitoring group with a network of sources in Syria, said Turkish-allied forces had seized at least two villages south of Jarablus, Jub al-Kousa and al-Amarna, that were held by militias loyal to the SDF. The fighting killed 20 civilians in Jub al-Kousa and 15 in al-Amarna, while scores more were wounded, the group said. Turkish-backed rebels said they had seized a string of villages south of Jarablus controlled by SDF-aligned forces and had moved west to take several villages held by Islamic State. People wave national flags as they wait for Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan arrival to the United Solidarity and Brotherhood rally in Gaziantep, Turkey, August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas People wave national flags as they wait for Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan arrival to the United Solidarity and Brotherhood rally in Gaziantep, Turkey, August 28, 2016. Reuters/Umit Bektas Turkish armoured personnel carriers drive towards the border in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 27, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas Turkish armoured personnel carriers drive towards the border in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 27, 2016. Reuters/Umit Bektas Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the United Solidarity and Brotherhood rally in Gaziantep, Turkey, August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the United Solidarity and Brotherhood rally in Gaziantep, Turkey, August 28, 2016. Reuters/Umit Bektas Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan greets people at the United Solidarity and Brotherhood rally in Gaziantep, Turkey, August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan greets people at the United Solidarity and Brotherhood rally in Gaziantep, Turkey, August 28, 2016. Reuters/Umit Bektas People wave national flags as they wait for Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan arrival to the United Solidarity and Brotherhood rally in Gaziantep, Turkey, August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas People wave national flags as they wait for Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan arrival to the United Solidarity and Brotherhood rally in Gaziantep, Turkey, August 28, 2016. Reuters/Umit Bektas Turkish armoured personnel carriers drive towards the border in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 27, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas Turkish armoured personnel carriers drive towards the border in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 27, 2016. Reuters/Umit Bektas › Turkish security sources said warplanes and artillery had hit YPG sites south of Jarablus and towards Manbij, a city captured by the SDF this month in a U.S.-backed operation. Colonel Ahmed Osman, head of the Turkish-aligned Sultan Murad rebel group, told Reuters the force was "certainly heading in the direction of Manbij" and hoped to take it. Ankara wants to stop Kurdish forces gaining control of an unbroken swathe of Syrian territory on Turkey's frontier, which it fears could embolden the Kurdish PKK militant group that has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey. A Reuters witness in Karkamis, a Turkish border town, heard jets and artillery strike within Syria. A Turkish official told Reuters heavier air strikes could come in the hours ahead. Kurdish official tells al-Mayadeen: Kurdish forces refused request by US to go towards Raqqa pic.twitter.com/bBixmqwwnt Related Coverage Syrian-Kurdish YPG fighters reinforcing Syria's Manbij: security sources Turkey's pursuit of militants will be unrelenting: president Turkish air strikes in Syria kill 25 Kurdish militants, says military Turkey-backed Syrian rebels aim for Manbij city, commander says Slideshow Turkish armoured personnel carriers drive towards the border in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border VideoTurkey ratchets up Syria offensive on border Turkey said one of its soldiers was killed on Saturday when a rocket that it said came from a YPG-controlled area hit a tank. It was the first Turkish death reported in the campaign. Turkey has suffered shock waves from the conflict raging in its southern neighbor, including bombings by Islamic State. The government suspects the jihadist group was behind a blast at a wedding this month that killed 54 people in southeastern Turkey. President Tayyip Erdogan struck a defiant note during a visit to the site of the wedding attack. "Our operations against terrorist organizations will continue until the end," he told a rally of thousands of supporters on Sunday. (Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay and Orhan Coskun in Ankara, Tom Perry and Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Beirut; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Andrew Bolton)

Russian cruise missiles target Syria

Fri Aug 19, 2016 | 7:00 PM EDT Russian cruise missiles target Syria 3h ago | 01:07 Syrian rebels welcome idea of 'weekly' truce Russian cruise missiles target Syria (Reuters) - Russian warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired cruise missiles at targets near Aleppo on Friday, a further sign of Moscow's broadening military effort in Syria days after it began to fly bombing missions from an airbase in Iran. Russian air power had helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad make steady advances against rebels seeking to oust him since Moscow's intervention a year ago, but a recent insurgent advance in Aleppo has checked that momentum. In northeastern Syria, warplanes from a U.S.-led coalition flew patrols on Thursday to protect local ground forces they back against Syrian government airstrikes that are targeting the Kurdish city of Hasaka, the Pentagon said. "The Syrian regime would be well advised not to interfere with coalition forces or our partners," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said. Russia's three cruise missile launches were its first against targets in Syria from the Mediterranean, with previous ones made from its Caspian Sea fleet. On Tuesday Russian bombers began flying missions in Syria from Hamedan air base in Iran. Russia's Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted the Islamist militant group Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, known as the Nusra Front until it broke formal ties with al Qaeda last month before playing a big role in the sudden rebel advances in Aleppo. The upsurge in fighting and airstrikes in and around the city, split between government-held west and rebel-held eastern sectors, has prompted growing international concern, galvanized by pictures on Thursday of a dazed, bloodied child. The plight of civilians in Aleppo has been aggravated in besieged areas by dire shortages of basic goods, leading the World Food Programme to warn of a "nightmarish" situation. In Daraya, a suburb of Damascus, rebels and a war monitor said the Syrian army's helicopters had dropped incendiary barrel bombs early on Friday, putting the opposition-held town's only hospital out of action. On Thursday Russia, Assad's most powerful military ally, said it supported a proposal for a weekly 48-hour pause in fighting in Aleppo to allow aid to reach the besieged areas and that it was ready to start the first one next week. On Friday, the main umbrella group for the Syrian opposition also cautiously welcomed the idea provided the U.N. monitored the truce and enforced compliance. During a previous humanitarian pause this year, both sides complained the other had broken the truce as fighting escalated again. DOZENS KILLED IN HASAKA On Friday Syrian Kurdish authorities evacuated thousands of civilians from Kurdish areas of Hasaka following government air strikes, a spokesman for the Kurdish YPG militia, an integral part of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said. The SDF is at the heart of Washington's military campaign against Islamic State group and last week seized the town of Manbij from the militant organization, part of a growing swathe of northern Syria it controls. The U.S.-led coalition aircraft arrived at Hasaka as two Syrian SU-24s, which had carried out the strikes, were leaving. "This is very unusual, we have not seen the regime take this kind of action against YPG before," the Pentagon's Davis said. Hasaka is divided into zones of Kurdish and Syrian government control and fighting between them has killed dozens of civilians in the past 48 hours, YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said. The YPG and the government have mostly avoided confrontation during the multi-sided war that has turned Syria into a patchwork of areas held by the state and an array of armed factions. The Syrian army said on Friday that this week's fighting was caused by Kurdish security forces attempting to take over Hasaka, prompting it to return fire on armed groups. A civilian removes the rubble in front of a damaged shop after an airstrike in the rebel held al-Saleheen neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria August 18, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail A civilian removes the rubble in front of a damaged shop after an airstrike in the rebel held al-Saleheen neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria August 18, 2016. Reuters/Abdalrhman Ismail A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 19, 2016, shows a rocket being launched from a Russian corvette in the Mediterranean Sea at Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant targets in Syria, according to the ministry. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 19, 2016, shows a rocket being launched from a Russian corvette in the Mediterranean Sea at Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant targets in Syria, according to the ministry. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 19, 2016, shows a rocket being launched from a Russian corvette in the Mediterranean Sea at Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant targets in Syria, according to the ministry. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 19, 2016, shows a rocket being launched from a Russian corvette in the Mediterranean Sea at Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant targets in Syria, according to the ministry. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters A civilian removes the rubble in front of a damaged shop after an airstrike in the rebel held al-Saleheen neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria August 18, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail A civilian removes the rubble in front of a damaged shop after an airstrike in the rebel held al-Saleheen neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria August 18, 2016. Reuters/Abdalrhman Ismail A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 19, 2016, shows a rocket being launched from a Russian corvette in the Mediterranean Sea at Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant targets in Syria, according to the ministry. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 19, 2016, shows a rocket being launched from a Russian corvette in the Mediterranean Sea at Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant targets in Syria, according to the ministry. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters › Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, has focused mostly on fighting Sunni Arab rebels who have been battling to oust him in western Syria with support from countries including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States. The YPG, or People's Protection Units, has meanwhile prioritized carving out and safeguarding predominantly Kurdish regions of northern Syria. The group has ties to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in Turkey. While the YPG controls most of the northeast, the Syrian government has maintained footholds in the cities of Hasaka and Qamishli at the border with Turkey. The SDF seizure of Manbij from Islamic State last week raised the prospect of possible advances towards al-Bab, near Aleppo. Families of Islamic State fighters in al-Bab and another nearby town, Jarablus, were evacuated to the militant group's stronghold of Raqqa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitoring group, said. ALEPPO TRUCE Related Coverage Syria army says Hasaka clashes result of Kurdish take-over effort Coalition jets scrambled to defend U.S. forces from Syrian bombing SlideshowStill image shows Russian warship firing cruise missiles at Syrian targets Rebel groups, including Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, stormed a Syrian army complex in southwest Aleppo two weeks ago, breaking a siege on opposition-held parts of Aleppo and prompting fierce counter-attacks. A senior rebel commander said there was a "positive atmosphere" surrounding talk of a ceasefire. "But so far there are no details." Syrian warplanes had carried out 46 sorties in the last 24 hours, including strikes in Aleppo that destroyed a tank, a vehicle loaded with ammunition and three mortar emplacements, and killed dozens of rebel fighters, a military source said. Continuing clashes between rebels and the Syrian army and allied militias were fiercest in the southwest of city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitor of the five-year-old civil war, said on Friday. It added that air strikes and shelling in and around Aleppo had killed 422 civilians, including 142 children, this month. "We need a 48-hour pause, we need it now," WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher told a briefing in Geneva on Friday. While the rebel advance this month opened a narrow corridor into opposition-held areas of Aleppo, access remains very limited and dangerous, meaning aid supplies are scarce. "It's crucially important that we go in there because people are absolutely desperate," Luescher added. "From both sides, these sieges have to stop - it's inhumane, awful, disgusting, nightmarish. Not necessarily U.N. words, but that's what it is." (Reporting by Angus McDowall and Tom Perry in Beirut, Polina Devitt in Moscow, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; editing by Ralph Boulton and Richard Balmforth)