Turkey launched a series of air raids on Sunday against Kurdish militias positions in northern Iraq and Syria, followed since by supported artillery fire, and promises a ground operation.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
A Kurdish fighter was killed and three others were injured on Wednesday, November 23, in a Turkish bombardment carried out using a drone on a Russian basis in northeast Syria, announced a manager of Kurdish forces, quoted by the France-Presse agency (AFP).
The victims are members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (FDS), a coalition of which Kurdish militiamen are the main component, which were deployed on the Russian base, he said. Tuesday, a Turkish bombardment had cost the lives of two Kurdish militiamen on a joint basis of their movement and the international coalition formed by the United States to fight the jihadists of the Islamic State.
Turkey launched the “Army Grifet” operation on Sunday, a series of air raids in northern Iraq and Syria, followed since by artillery fire supported against positions of the workers’ party Kurdistan (PKK) and people protection units (YPG). Ankara attributed to them the attack which killed six people and 81 injured on November 13 in Istanbul and threatens to launch a land operation in northern Syria. The Turkish army says it has bombed 471 objectives to date.
Turkey is “more determined than ever” to protect its border with Syria from Kurdish fighters, the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, repeated on Wednesday. “Our operation with our planes, our canons and our drones is only the beginning. Our determination to protect all our southern borders (…) by a security zone is stronger today than ever. We will continue our operations Air without interruption and we will enter the terrorists on the grounds at the time that seems appropriate to us, “he said in the Assembly. The Head of State had assured, on Monday, that it was “no question” that the operation launched on Sunday is limited to an air dimension. H2>
His repeated threats worry Washington and Moscow, both involved in the war in Syria, which launched calls for restraint. The United States supports the YPG in the fight against jihadists, while Russia provides military support to Syrian forces.
Between 2016 and 2019, Turkey, which wants to create a “security zone” 30 kilometers wide along its southern border, has carried out three major operations in northern Syria against militias and organizations Kurdes.