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Turkey bombs US-backed Syria Kurdish fighters in Afrin with impunity

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Turkish soldiers are deployed on Mount Bersaya, north of the Syrian town of Azaz near the border with Turkey, on January 29, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Turkey has bombed US-backed Kurdish fighters in Afrin with impunity, just after Washington cited an alleged attack on the militants to target pro-government forces in Syria. 

The Turkish army said in a statement on Friday that the overnight strikes destroyed 19 targets, including ammunition depots, shelters and gun positions, state-run Anadolu news agency said.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven US-backed militants with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as well as two civilians were killed in the attacks.

Turkey began the attacks on January 20, but halted them after terrorists downed a Russian jet in the northwestern Syria province of Idlib, in order to allow Moscow to reinforce its air defense system.

The offensive is aimed at the YPG, which Turkey says bears ties with anti-Ankara militants.

The Turkish raid against Washington-backed forces comes two days after the US attacked pro-Damascus forces in the western Syrian province of Dayr al-Zawr, reportedly killing more than 100 of them as the fighters were engaged in an anti-Daesh operation.

The US claimed that it launched the attack to protect SDF militants whose ranks are filled with YPG fighters.

Syria rejected the claim and condemned the attack as a “war crime” meant to boost Daesh terrorists.

Turkey has been targeting the US-backed militants as part of Operation Olive Branch which Ankara launched after the United States said it sought to create a force near the Turkish border in Syria.

Ceasefire plan falls flat

Meanwhile, members of the United Nations Security Council failed to reach an agreement on a statement over the humanitarian situation in Syria.

Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, had called for an immediate 30-day ceasefire in Syria.

He cited Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, which has been the scene of clashes between Syrian government forces and militants for weeks.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow supported a cessation of hostilities, but believed the plan was not realistic because terrorists were keeping up their attacks there.

Syria: U.S.-backed fighters begin offensive on edge of ISIS’ capital

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Members of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces gather to speak to reporters as they announce an operation to retake Raqqa, Syria, back from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), in an image realeased by the SDF on Twitter, May24, 2016. SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces)


Members of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces gather to speak to reporters as they announce an operation to retake Raqqa, Syria, back from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), in an image realeased by the SDF on Twitter, May24, 2016.
SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces)

A U.S.-backed Syrian coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters has launched an offensive to begin forcing Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters from the de-facto capital city of their self-proclaimed Islamic “caliphate” — or at least to begin doing so.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, as the umbrella group of fighters is called, announced the move on Twitter, and it was soon reported on Kurdish media and confirmed to CBS News by a representative for the group.

SDF statements posted on the group’s official Twitter account said the operation was focused on liberating northern Raqqa, to protect the largely-Kurdish areas to the north from ISIS attack.

Early reports of casualties all centered in the rural area to the north of the city.

ISIS has controled Raqqa in northern Syria since sweeping across vast swathes of that country and neighboring Iraq in 2014. It is believed to operate most of its administration and control and command from the city.

It was not immediately clear how far the SDF hoped to push into Raqqa proper — or how quickly, but a commander with the Kurdish YPG militia, which is taking part in the operation, said the operation launched Tuesday was a necessary first step to reclaim the city.

He told CBS News the SDF fighters needed to focus on clearing the area to the north of the city of ISIS militants, and then hold that ground before launching a wider attack on the heart of ISIS-held Raqqa.

U.S. officials have indicated to CBS News that the push announced by SDF likely does not amount to a concerted effort to retake the entire city, yet. The task is too large for the SDF on its own, and there is no indication, in spite of SDF claims of backing by the U.S.-led coalition, that a significant international operation is under way.

Raqqa sits only about 50 miles south of Syria’s border with Turkey, in land long-dominated by Kurds.

In a message posted to its official Twitter account, the SFD said members of the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition, dubbed “Operation Inherent Resolve,” would “accompany” SDF forces on the offensive.

Operation Inherent Resolve has largely consisted, from the U.S. standpoint, of airstrikes against ISIS positions in both Syria and Iraq. Pentagon officials would not comment on any level of involvement by Operation Inherent Resolve or the U.S. military in or around Raqqa.

About 200 U.S. troops are in Syria in a training capacity.