25-04-2024 10:02 PM Jerusalem Timing

Turkey Shells Kurdish-held Syria village, PM Says Won’t Send Ground Troops

Turkey Shells Kurdish-held Syria village, PM Says Won’t Send Ground Troops

Turkish tanks shelled a Kurdish-held village in northern Syria overnight, wounding at least four fighters, Kurdish forces and a monitoring group said on Monday.

Turkish tanks shelled a Kurdish-held village in northern Syria overnight, wounding at least four fighters, Kurdish forces and a monitoring group said on Monday.

The shelling comes after Turkey launched a two-pronged "anti-terror" cross-border offensive against the Takfiri group, ISIL (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant) and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, pounding their positions in Syria and Iraq with air strikes and artillery.

Turkish fighter jetsIn a statement, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) said Turkish tanks hit its own positions and those of allied Arab rebels in the village of Zur Maghar in Aleppo province.

The "heavy tank fire" wounded four members of the allied Kurdish force and several villagers, the YPG said.

It said there was a second, later round of shelling against Zur Maghar and another village in the same area.

"Instead of targeting ISIL terrorist occupied positions, Turkish forces attack our defenders' positions," the statement said.

"We urge (the) Turkish leadership to halt this aggression and to follow international guidelines. We are telling the Turkish army to stop shooting at our fighters and their positions."

The Turkish fire was also reported by activists and the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"A number of shells fired by Turkish tanks fell on the village of Zur Maghar, which is controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units," the London-based Observatory said.

Zur Maghar lies on the border with Turkey, east of the town of Jarabulus, which is held by ISIL.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the incident appeared to be the most serious Turkish targeting of Kurdish-controlled areas in the Syrian conflict.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet DavutogluFor his part, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Ankara will not send ground troops into Syria.

"We will not send ground forces," Davutoglu told a group of Turkish newspaper editors according to the Hurriyet daily.

"We do not want to see Daesh on our border," Davutoglu said using an Arabic acronym for the ISIL terrorists, the Hurriyet daily quoted him as saying.

Davutoglu said Turkish strikes against ISIL and PKK militants in Iraq and Syria would "change the balance" in the region.

Turkey has given a green-light to the United States on the use of a key air base near Syria for bombings against ISIL targets.

The landmark deal to use Incirlik air base in southern Turkey comes after months of tough negotiations between Turkish and US officials.

Davutoglu declined to provide details of the agreement but said the concerns of Ankara, which had been pressing for a no-fly zone, were addressed "to a certain extent."

"Air cover is important, the air protection for the Free Syrian Army and other moderate elements fighting Daesh," said Davutoglu.

"If we will not send ground forces -- and that we will not do -- then certain elements that cooperate with us on the ground must be protected."