Mon 04 September 2023:
Clashes in Kurdish-held northeast Syria between the army and Turkey-backed armed factions killed 23 people on Sunday after pro-Ankara rebels attempted to infiltrate the area, a war monitor said.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported “18 dead among the (pro-Turkish) factions and five from the regime forces”, adding that others were wounded.
Factions from the coalition of Ankara-backed rebel groups known as the Syrian National Army had sought to infiltrate the region earlier in the day, it added.
The Syrian army and local fighters affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) responded, leading to the casualties, the Observatory added.
The Tal Tamr area is near a strip of border territory under the control of Ankara and its proxies.
Turkish forces and their proxies shell five villages
Turkish forces and their proxies fired heavy artillery shells on the vicinity of Tanb, Kashta’ar, Mangh Military Airport, Shawargha and Mara’anz in Shira district in Afrin countryside north western of Aleppo within areas held by Kurdish and regime forces. However, no casualties were reported.
Since 2016, Turkey has launched several incursions against Kurdish forces in northern Syria that have allowed Ankara to control areas along the border.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long sought to establish a “safe zone” 30 kilometres (20 miles) deep along the whole length of the frontier.
A 2019 Russian-brokered agreement saw Syrian government forces deployed along parts of the northern border area in exchange for Turkey halting an earlier offensive.
With AFP
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