BEIRUT: A Turkish warplane on Saturday bombed a zone in northern Syria held by Kurdish militias, Ankara’s first strike on the country in 17 months, a monitor said.
“A Turkish warplane targeted military positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces in the village of Saida on the outskirts of Ain Issa,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Turkey launched airstrikes and fired artillery against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in October 2019 after then President Donald Trump pulled US troops back from the area, abandoning the Syrian Kurdish fighters, known as YPG,who have been America’s only allies in Syria fighting the Daesh group.
Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan has accused the YPG of being allies of rebels who have been seeking self-rule from Ankara.
Crackdown on Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party intensifies after dawn raids