Turkey continues strikes on Kurdish militia in Syria despite Washington’s call for restraint ahead of planned ceasefire
Saudi Arabia and Turkey have long supported Syria’s rebels and see Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow as essential for ending Syria’s five-year civil war, which has left more 260,000 dead and forced millions from their homes.
Turkey again shelled Kurdish militia in Syria yesterday despite calls from Washington for an end to the strikes, as tensions mounted just days before a ceasefire deal is meant to take hold.
The shelling targeted Kurdish forces who have been advancing in Aleppo province in a bid to seize ground ahead of the proposed ceasefire, put forward by world powers last week.
Saudi Arabia meanwhile said it had deployed warplanes to a Turkish airbase, after Ankara said it was mulling ground operations in Syria with Saudi troops.
The Kurdish advances and Turkish attacks, which Ankara said targeted Kurdish Democratic Union (PYD) targets, threatened to undermine efforts to implement the ceasefire, which diplomats agreed in Munich on Friday should begin within a week.
The Turkish shelling, which began on Saturday, reportedly targeted the Minnigh airbase – recently taken from Islamist rebels by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Arab militia – and nearby villages.
[Assad] has sought the help of Russia, which will fail to save him
Turkey’s state-run Anatolia news agency yesterday reported the army struck Kurdish targets around the Syrian town of Azaz using howitzers stationed on the Turkish side of the border, in response to incoming fire.
