Civilians flee as Turkey 'bombards' Kurdish areas in Syria
Published: 05:06 PM,Jun 02,2022 | EDITED : 08:06 PM,Jun 02,2022
Syrian fighters gather in the countryside of the northern city of Manbij, on Thursday. - AFP
BEIRUT: Turkish artillery bombarded several areas under Kurdish control in northern Syria, prompting an exodus of civilians, activists and a monitoring group said on Thursday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said shells hit areas under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the countryside of Tal Tamr and Abu Rasin.
On Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a new Turkish military offensive that will target Kurdish militias in two northern Syrian towns.
The operation aims to 'rid Tal Rifaat and Manbij of terrorists,' Erdogan said, adding that military operations would gradually continue in other parts of northern Syria.
Frahad al Shami, head of the SDF media office, said there was an infiltration attempt by Turkish forces and their backed militias in the northern sector of Manbij, but it was foiled by Kurdish militias.
He said that the heavy Turkish shelling on areas, mainly on Tal Tamr, led to the exodus of many civilians.
The Turkish Defence Ministry was not immediately available to comment.
Erdogan had already threatened that a new military operation could expand up to 30 kilometres from the Turkish border into Syrian territory.
Ankara considers the YPG and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as linked terrorist groups and fears a wider insurgency.
The United States, on the other hand, is working with the YPG as a partner in the fight against the terrorist militia IS.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday warned Nato ally Turkey against a military offensive in Syria, saying it would put the region at risk.
Blinken urged Turkey to stick to cease-fire lines established in 2019 after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed threats to 'clean up' two northern Syrian cities of Kurdish fighters.
'It's something that we would oppose,' Blinken told a joint news conference with Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
'The concern that we have is that any new offensive would undermine regional stability (and) provide malign actors with opportunities to exploit instability,' Blinken said.
AID ROUTE
The US envoy to the UN said on Thursday the sole border crossing to deliver aid into Syria must remain open, amid Russian threats to veto a resolution to protect it.
Syria-ally Russia could block the UN Security Council resolution, which expires on July 10, and observers say it is using it as a bargaining chip in the face of punishing sanctions over Moscow's war of Ukraine.
The Bab al Hawa crossing near Turkey's Cilvegozu border post in the south has been the only point of entry for UN aid into Syria for the past two years.
The US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Thursday it was imperative the opening stay open.
'We have to extend this border crossing, we have to continue to provide this assistance,' said Thomas-Greenfield from a UN logistics centre in Reyhanli, near the Turkey-Syria border.
Nearly 10,000 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid passed through the crossing last year bound for the Idlib region, the last rebel bastion in Syria and home to around three million people live.
'We know that the situation is already dire there, that people are suffering now,' Thomas-Greenfield said.
'It's going to increase the sufferings, it's going to increase the number of people who will displace and possibly even the number of people who may try to cross the border into Turkey.'
She was in Reyhanli to meet with NGO and UN agencies' representatives who are working to provide assistance to Syrians.
Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's deputy ambassador to the UN, said on May 20 that Moscow saw no reason to keep the crossing open, saying it violates Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. - AFP
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said shells hit areas under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the countryside of Tal Tamr and Abu Rasin.
On Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a new Turkish military offensive that will target Kurdish militias in two northern Syrian towns.
The operation aims to 'rid Tal Rifaat and Manbij of terrorists,' Erdogan said, adding that military operations would gradually continue in other parts of northern Syria.
Frahad al Shami, head of the SDF media office, said there was an infiltration attempt by Turkish forces and their backed militias in the northern sector of Manbij, but it was foiled by Kurdish militias.
He said that the heavy Turkish shelling on areas, mainly on Tal Tamr, led to the exodus of many civilians.
The Turkish Defence Ministry was not immediately available to comment.
Erdogan had already threatened that a new military operation could expand up to 30 kilometres from the Turkish border into Syrian territory.
Ankara considers the YPG and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as linked terrorist groups and fears a wider insurgency.
The United States, on the other hand, is working with the YPG as a partner in the fight against the terrorist militia IS.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday warned Nato ally Turkey against a military offensive in Syria, saying it would put the region at risk.
Blinken urged Turkey to stick to cease-fire lines established in 2019 after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed threats to 'clean up' two northern Syrian cities of Kurdish fighters.
'It's something that we would oppose,' Blinken told a joint news conference with Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
'The concern that we have is that any new offensive would undermine regional stability (and) provide malign actors with opportunities to exploit instability,' Blinken said.
AID ROUTE
The US envoy to the UN said on Thursday the sole border crossing to deliver aid into Syria must remain open, amid Russian threats to veto a resolution to protect it.
Syria-ally Russia could block the UN Security Council resolution, which expires on July 10, and observers say it is using it as a bargaining chip in the face of punishing sanctions over Moscow's war of Ukraine.
The Bab al Hawa crossing near Turkey's Cilvegozu border post in the south has been the only point of entry for UN aid into Syria for the past two years.
The US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Thursday it was imperative the opening stay open.
'We have to extend this border crossing, we have to continue to provide this assistance,' said Thomas-Greenfield from a UN logistics centre in Reyhanli, near the Turkey-Syria border.
Nearly 10,000 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid passed through the crossing last year bound for the Idlib region, the last rebel bastion in Syria and home to around three million people live.
'We know that the situation is already dire there, that people are suffering now,' Thomas-Greenfield said.
'It's going to increase the sufferings, it's going to increase the number of people who will displace and possibly even the number of people who may try to cross the border into Turkey.'
She was in Reyhanli to meet with NGO and UN agencies' representatives who are working to provide assistance to Syrians.
Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's deputy ambassador to the UN, said on May 20 that Moscow saw no reason to keep the crossing open, saying it violates Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. - AFP