Turkish warplanes kill at least 13 in Syrian Kurdish village

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish airstrikes struck the Syrian Kurdish village of Tathana on Wednesday, killing at least 13 civilians and wounding tens more.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights conflict monitor which reported the incident added that "the number of dead is likely to rise."

 

Local media report the death toll has risen to 20.  

Tathana village is located approximately 16 kilometers northwest of the city of Manbij, which was captured from Islamic State (ISIS) militants by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in August.

The bombing comes a mere day after at least 31 people, including five children and a woman, were killed in the bombing of a wedding hall in the Syrian Kurdish city of Hasaka, for which ISIS claimed responsibility.  

Turkey intervened in the Syrian conflict late in August in support of its allied Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters against ISIS. It plans to set up a safe zone to keep ISIS from the border and also stop the advance west of the Euphrates of the Kurdish-majority SDF. Those FSA fighters have clashed with Kurdish elements of the SDF since that time and Turkey has also targeted SDF positions with airstrikes and artillery.