CNN
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Eleven people were killed in Syria, including a journalist, after Turkish warplanes carried out an “air campaign” over the country and neighboring Iraq late Saturday, according to a Democratic Forces official Syria (SDF) is backed by the US. No casualties were reported from the Iraqi side.
Turkey’s new cross-border offensive, dubbed Operation Sword Claw by the Defense Ministry, targets the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the PYD People’s Defense Unit (YPG) and the Community Coalition. Kurds (KCK), the state report said. Anadolu news agency.
The campaign follows a deadly explosion in central Istanbul a week ago, for which Turkish officials say Kurdish separatists are responsible, a claim denied by Kurdish groups. That attack killed at least six people and wounded at least 81 others.
The head of the SDF’s communications department, Ferhad Shami, said Turkish warplanes carried out airstrikes around Kobani, the villages of Dahir al-Arab and al-Beilonya.
Shami said the attacks affected northern and eastern Syria, destroying a hospital in Kobani and a power plant in Derik, as well as destroying grain silos in Dahir al-Arab.
A witness told CNN that warplanes carried out airstrikes near the city of Tal Rifaat, in the northern countryside of Aleppo, which is controlled by the YPG.
Turkey’s Defense Minister on Sunday congratulated the country’s air force for the “successful” air campaign, according to Anadolu.
“The terrorists’ shelters, bunkers, caves, tunnels and warehouses have been successfully destroyed. We follow them closely. The so-called headquarters of the terrorist organization was also attacked and destroyed,” Hulusi Akar said in a speech from the capital Ankara, Anadolu reported.
Both Turkey and the United States consider the PKK a terrorist organization. The two countries disagree on the position of the YPG, which has been a US ally in the fight against IS in Syria, but Turkey sees it as an extension of the PKK in Syria.
A woman has been detained suspected of carrying out the deadly explosion in Istanbul last Sunday. According to Turkish authorities, she was identified as a Syrian citizen, trained by Kurdish fighters.
Officials from the SDF, YPG and the People’s Self-Defense Forces (HPG), the armed wing of the PKK, all denied involvement in the attack.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian prosecutors have brought charges against five people for aiding terrorist acts in connection with the explosion.
Bulgarian Supervision prosecutor Angel Kanev told reporters on Saturday that charges have been brought against five individuals for two crimes. “One [is being in] an organized crime group of human trafficking and human trafficking. Second, according to article 108A of the penal code, in general, support to a certain extent at a given time, terrorist activities.”
Kanev said all the suspects are foreign nationals and one holds dual Bulgarian citizenship.
