Turkey has launched a series of cross-border attacks targeting Kurdish forces since 2016.
Beirut:
On Tuesday, 17 fighters were killed in airstrikes by regime forces on Turkish Syrian border posts, according to a war watchdog, prompting the Damascus government to threaten retaliation.
“Seventeen fighters were killed in Turkish air strikes, which targeted several Syrian regime posts … near the Turkish border,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
It did not specify whether the victims were linked to the government or Kurdish forces.
The official Sanaa news agency, citing a military source, said at least three Syrian soldiers were killed and six wounded in the Turkish raid.
“Any attack on a military post operated by our armed forces will be met with a direct and immediate response on all fronts,” Sana said.
The attacks took place near the Kurdish-held town of Kobane, where Turkish forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) clashed overnight.
Turkey’s defense ministry said Kurdish forces also attacked Turkish territory overnight, killing one soldier.
The ministry said “thirteen terrorists were killed” in retaliatory strikes by Ankara inside Syria, the ministry said, adding that operations in the area were ongoing.
Turkey has stepped up its attacks in Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria after Iran and Russia failed to flag off a new offensive on July 19 against Kurdish fighters seen by Ankara as terrorists.
At least four people were killed in a Turkish drone strike on Tuesday in the Kurdish-controlled region of Hasakeh, the latest in similar attacks.
The SDF, the de facto army of the Syrian Kurds, says it has counted at least 13 of its members killed in Turkish attacks since July.
Turkey has launched a series of cross-border attacks targeting Kurdish forces and the Islamic State group since 2016, but Syrian regime fighters have rarely been killed as a result of such operations.
Regime forces have been deployed in areas controlled by Kurdish fighters near the border with Turkey as part of agreements intended to prevent a new Turkish operation.
Turkey has fiercely opposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, backing the removal of rebels and opening its doors to refugees.
But last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called for a reconciliation between the Syrian government and the opposition.
His comments were seen as a clear reduction in Ankara’s long-standing hostility towards Assad’s government and angered the Syrian opposition and rebel groups.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)