Forces backed by Ankara clashed in the eastern countryside of Aleppo on Monday morning, and the fighting was followed by a sneak operation of the Kurdish-backed Afrin Liberation Forces (HRE), the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.
The clashes resulted in the killing of at least 14 members of Turkish-backed militias with the death toll expected to rise, according to SOHR.
Turkey and its Syrian proxies have recently stepped up attacks against Kurdish-led forces in Syria. On Sunday, the internal security forces (Asayish) of northeast Syria (Rojava) announced that two of their members were killed as a result of a suspected Turkish drone strike in Hasaka province.
On Monday, SOHR said that at least seven members of the Turkish-backed Faylaq al-Sham militia group were wounded after a military vehicle was targeted with a rocket-propelled grenade, allegedly coming from the areas under the influence of Kurdish forces and the Syrian regime in northern Aleppo countryside.
At least two members of the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) were killed and two others were wounded when a Turkish drone targeted a vehicle near the northern Syrian city of Manbij on Friday.
Kurds have accused Turkey of taking advantage of recent clashes between some Arab tribes and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor, using it as an opportunity to attack Kurdish-led forces in Manbij and other areas. Manbij is located at a key crossroads in northern Syria.
Turkey considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, the backbone of the US-backed SDF, as an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group fighting for Kurdish rights in Turkey and designated a terrorist organization by Ankara.
