Conflicts & War

Syrian Kurds raise death toll in Turkish offensive to 15, including 8 civilians

Beirut, Oct 6 (EFE).- The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an armed alliance led by Kurds, on Friday, raised to 15 the number of dead, eight of them civilians, in the campaign of attacks that Turkey has been carrying out against their areas since Thursday, as retaliation for a recent attack in Ankara.

According to a statement by the FSD, a US ally, Turkish troops have carried out dozens of bombing raids by warplanes and drones, as well as ground attacks with artillery and heavy weapons, against a large number of points in northern and northeastern Syria controlled by the Kurdish authorities over the past 24 hours.

These actions killed at least eight civilians, one member of the Syrian Democratic Forces, and six members of the Asayish (Kurdish police), who are responsible for protecting some of the infrastructure under attack in the region, according to the release.

On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced that his country would launch “massive” attacks against Kurdish targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for an Oct. 1 suicide bombing at the Interior Ministry in Ankara.

Both bombers allegedly belonged to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish guerrilla group in Turkey, but Fidan asserted that they had received training in Syria.

In its statement today, however, the SDF again accused Turkey of using last week’s attack as a “pretext” to launch a “full-scale attack” in Syria and noted that Turkish authorities have not provided “evidence” to support their claims.

“This cowardly and treacherous Turkish attack targeted civil services, economic centers, energy facilities, water resources, military installations, civilian structures, and populated villages. The Turkish occupation state is trying to divert attention from its internal social, economic, and political crisis,” the alliance stated.

The Kurdish-led coalition vowed to respond “firmly” to “any attack that threatens the security” of its territories shortly after announcing that it had killed five Turkish soldiers in separate operations in Syria’s northeastern al-Hasakah province on Thursday. EFE

njd/ics/ar

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