CNN
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eleven people have died in SyriaLate on Saturday, Turkish warplanes carried out an “air campaign” in the country and neighboring Iraq, including a journalist, according to an official of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). No casualties were reported from the Iraqi side.
Turkey’s new cross-border offensive, dubbed “Operation Claw-Sword” by its Defense Ministry, targets the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the PYD People’s Defense Units (YPG) and the Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK). is, reports state-run news agency Anadolu.
campaign follows a fatal explosion A week earlier the attack in central Istanbul, which Turkish officials blamed on Kurdish separatists, was denied by Kurdish groups. At least six people were killed and at least 81 others were injured in that attack.
Turkish fighters carried out airstrikes around Kobani, Dahir al-Arab village and al-Belonia, the SDF’s media chief Farhad Shami said via Twitter.
Shami said the strikes affected north and east Syria, destroying a hospital in Kobani and a power station in Derik, as well as destroying grain silos in Dahir al-Arab.
An eyewitness told CNN warplanes carried out airstrikes near the town of Tal Rifat in Aleppo’s northern countryside, which is controlled by the YPG.
Turkey’s defense minister congratulated his country’s air force on Sunday for a “successful” air campaign, according to Anadolu.
“The hideouts, bunkers, caves, tunnels and godowns of the terrorists were successfully destroyed. We followed them closely. The so-called headquarters of the terrorist organization were also attacked and destroyed.
Turkey and the US both consider the PKK a terrorist organization. The two countries disagree on the status of the military wing of the YPG, which has been a US ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria, but Turkey views it as a Syrian extension of the PKK.
a woman has been detained On suspicion of carrying out the deadly explosion in Istanbul last Sunday. According to Turkish officials, he has been identified as a Syrian national who was trained by Kurdish militants.
Officials from the SDF, YPG and the People’s Defense Forces (HPG), the PKK’s armed wing, denied involvement in the attack.
Meanwhile Bulgarian prosecutors have brought charges against five people for aiding terrorist activities in connection with the blast.
Bulgarian supervisory prosecutor Angle Kanev told reporters on Saturday that charges have been brought against five individuals for the two crimes. “One [is being in] An organized crime group for smuggling and human trafficking. The second, according to Article 108A in the Criminal Code, is, generally speaking, aiding terrorist activities to a certain extent at a given time.
All the suspects are foreign nationals, and one holds dual Bulgarian citizenship, Kanev said.