Kurdish-led Syrian forces: Turkey airstrikes hitting our bases

Jarablus Military Council says strikes in Amarneh village mark an ‘unprecedented and dangerous escalation’

By AP and AFP 27 August 2016, 3:30 pm

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This picture taken from the Turkish Syrian border city of Karkamis in the southern region of Gaziantep, on August 24, 2016 shows pro-Ankara Syrian opposition fighter trucks positioned two kilometers west from the Syrian Turkish border town of Jarablus. (AFP / BULENT KILIC)

Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria said Saturday that Turkish airstrikes have hit their bases near the key border town of Jarablus, a town seized by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels earlier this week.

The Jarablus Military Council said the airstrikes on their bases in Amarneh village marked an “unprecedented and dangerous escalation” and came after Turkish artillery shelled the positions the day before.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the airstrikes. Turkish officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Jarablus Council is supported by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syria Democratic Forces. Turkey sent tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels capture Jarablus from the Islamic State group, but also partly in an effort to contain the Kurdish-led forces.

Turkey said Thursday it had “every right” to intervene if the Kurdish fighters did not withdraw east of the Euphrates River as promised by the United States, while the Kurds vowed they would not retreat.

The advancing Turkish army captured Jarablus that the Kurdish militias vowed to take for themselves.

Kurdish fighters belonging to the police force -- the Asayesh -- and the People's Protection Units (YPG) stand on a statue of Basel Assad, the late elder brother of the Syrian President, in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh on August 23, 2016, after they agreed to a truce with regime forces. (AFP PHOTO/DELIL SOULEIMAN) — Kurdish fighters belonging to the police force — the Asayesh — and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) stand on a statue of Basel Assad, the late elder brother of the Syrian President, in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh on August 23, 2016, after they agreed to a truce with regime forces. (AFP PHOTO/DELIL SOULEIMAN)

Ankara has said the operation in Syria is aimed not just at IS jihadists, but also the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia.

Ankara’s hostility to the YPG puts it at loggerheads with its NATO ally, the United States, which works with the group on the ground in the fight against IS.

US Vice President Joe Biden, visiting Turkey on Wednesday, made clear that Washington has strictly told the YPG not to move west of the Euphrates and would no longer receive American support if they did.