Clashes between forces loyal to the Syrian regime and the Turkish army continue in northern Syria and continue to claim casualties. At least twenty-one civilians, including children, were killed on Friday August 19.
Before dawn on Friday, a Turkish drone attack hit “a center for underage girls” in the locality of Chmouka, near Hassaké in northeastern Syria, killing “four children and [en] hurtful 11″, announced 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, they are “artillery fire by pro-regime forces on a market” who killed seventeen civilians, including six children, according to the OSDH. Thirty-five people were also injured.
Farhad Shami, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish-dominated armed coalition, said his forces had no ” nothing to see “ with the shooting at Al-Bab.
Several Turkish offensives
A neighbor of Syria, Turkey is deploying troops, with the support of Syrian rebel groups affiliated with it, near its border with Syria. Turkish soldiers have carried out several offensives against Syrian Kurdish forces which control most of the northeast of the country.
Ankara 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 by Turkish media on Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country had no “no views” on Syrian territory. He added wanting “taking new steps” with the regime in Damascus, judging that an improvement in bilateral relations would contribute to peace in the region.