At least 21 civilians, including children, were killed yesterday, Friday, in northern Syria by shelling by pro-Syrian regime forces and a Turkish army strike.
Turkey has deployed troops in the north of the war-torn country with the support of Syrian rebel groups. Turkish soldiers are conducting operations against Syrian Kurdish forces that control most of northern Syria.
Yesterday morning, a Turkish drone strike struck "a center for underage girls" in the town of Smouka, near Hasakeh in northeastern Syria, killing "four children and injuring 11," the autonomous Kurdish administration said in a statement.
The account was confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which clarified that the children were asleep.
In al-Bab, a town controlled by Syrian rebels backed by Ankara and located on the Syrian-Turkish border, "artillery fire by pro-regime forces against market forces caused the death of 17 civilians, including six children, and wounded 35 other" people, the Observatory added.
An AFP correspondent in the area said he saw residents and rescuers rushing to remove the wounded, mostly children.
Farhad Sami, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF, a Kurdish-dominated armed group), said his forces had "nothing to do" with the strikes on al-Bab. Turkey has been threatening since May to launch a major offensive against Kurdish forces that control most of northeastern Syria.
Since July, Turkish drones have been hitting SDF-controlled zones with increasing frequency, according to the Observatory and Kurdish officials.
Yesterday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara "has "no sights" on Syrian territory. He added that he wanted his country's relationship with Damascus "to move to another phase," estimating that improving bilateral relations would contribute to peace in the region.
Source: Proto Thema
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