Turkish strikes are reported to have killed 27 civilians in Syria

2024-10-25 10:28:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

A Syrian war monitoring group said on October 25 that Turkey's drone strikes have killed 27 civilians in Syria in the past 24 hours.

Turkey has launched strikes in Syria and Iraq against Kurdish militants, following a deadly attack on a defense company in Ankara earlier in the week.

Turkish forces have "dramatically escalated their air and ground attacks in northern and eastern Syria" since Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The monitoring group added that it has documented 45 drone strikes and four of the warplanes that have hit infrastructure, including water, power and gas stations.

Turkey launched airstrikes on Wednesday against Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria, blaming them for the attack in Ankara that killed five people.

Another 22 people were injured during the attack, which the Turkish government said was "highly likely" to have been carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, an organization banned in Turkey.

Hours after the attack near the Turkish capital, "an air operation was carried out against terrorist targets in northern Iraq and Syria," the Turkish Ministry of Defense said.

"In total, 32 targets belonging to terrorists have been successfully destroyed."

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement on October 24 that Turkish airstrikes have killed 12 civilians in northeastern Syria and wounded 25 others.

"In addition to residential areas, Turkish warplanes and drones have targeted bakeries, power stations, oil buildings and checkpoints of the [Kurdish] Internal Security Forces," the forces said, adding that they also Turkey has carried out shelling.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the United States, led the campaign that drove jihadists from the Islamic State militant group out of parts of Syria in 2019.

Turkey views the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which are dominated by the Syrian Democratic Forces, as an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s, in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. PPK is considered a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies./REL