(Al-Bab) At least 21 civilians including children were killed on Friday in northern Syria in shelling by forces loyal to the Syrian regime and in a strike by the Turkish army, an NGO said.
Posted at 2:26 p.m.
At war since 2011, Syria is fragmented due to the intervention of multiple groups and foreign powers in the conflict.
Neighboring Syria, Turkey is deploying troops in the north near its border, with support from Syrian rebel groups affiliated with it. Turkish soldiers have carried out several offensives against Syrian Kurdish forces which control most of the northeast of the country.
Friday before dawn, a Turkish drone attack hit “a center for underage girls” in the locality of Chmouka, near Hassaké (northeast), killing “four children and injuring 11”, said a press release from the Kurdish Autonomous Administration.
The report was confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), which specified that the children slept in this center in Hassaké, a city located in the Kurdish autonomous region.
In Al-Bab, a locality under the control of pro-Ankara Syrian factions located near the Syrian-Turkish border, “artillery fire by pro-regime forces in a market killed 17 civilians, including six children, and injured 35”, indicated the OSDH.
On the spot, an AFP correspondent saw residents and rescuers rushing to evacuate the wounded, especially children, in the middle of destroyed fruit and vegetable stalls where human shreds lay.
PHOTO BAKR ALKASEM, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Farhad Shami, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF, a Kurdish-dominated armed coalition), said his forces had “nothing to do” with the firing on Al-Bab.
Turkey has been threatening since May to launch a major offensive against the FDS, considered “terrorists” by Ankara.
Since July, Turkish drones have been hitting areas controlled by the SDF more and more often, according to the OSDH and Kurdish officials.
Quoted on Friday by Turkish media, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country had “no views” on Syrian territory. He added that he wanted to “take new steps” with the Damascus regime, judging that an improvement in bilateral relations would contribute to peace in the region.
After the outbreak of the war in Syria, Turkey fiercely opposed the regime of Bashar al-Assad, posing as an unwavering support for Syrian rebel groups.