According to media reports, the Turkish military has begun an air-to-ground offensive in northern Syria. As state broadcaster TRT reported on Thursday, citing security circles, Turkish forces attacked “terrorist targets” in northern and northeastern Syria. A few days earlier, the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) carried out an attack in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
The Tagesspiegel app brings current news, basic information and analysis directly to your smartphone. In addition to the digital newspaper. Download for free here.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacks mainly targeted posts of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the Kurdish YPG militia, in the area around Hasakah in the northeast of the country. At least ten people were killed, including civilians.
Another five people were reportedly injured in the airstrikes. According to Kurdish activists in Hasakah, Turkish warplanes and drones bombed the area on Thursday.
O Türkiye had already threatened new military attacks in Syria and Iraq. On Sunday, two police officers were injured in a suicide attack in front of the Ministry of Interior in Ankara. Another attacker was killed in an exchange of gunfire. The banned Kurdish Workers’ Party, PKK, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Immediately after the attack, Turkey carried out airstrikes in northern Iraq, where the PKK has its headquarters. The Turkish Defense Ministry said 22 “terrorists were neutralized” in Syria last week. This usually means they have been killed. Fifteen other people were also killed in Iraq during the same period.
More on the topic in Tagesspiegel Plus:
The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh Who defends what interests in the Caucasus region? “Out with the regime” Resistance against despot Assad is forming again in Syria. Homophobic hysteria in Türkiye “You will not make this country lesbian”
O PKK is listed as a terrorist organization in Türkiye, Europe and the USA. The SDF, led by Kurdish militias, is a close US ally in the fight against Islamic terrorists in Syria. Turkey is taking military action against the SDF as well as the PKK, and lists both as terrorist organizations. (dpa)