Turkey launches intensive airstrikes in Northern Syria following Ankara terrorist attack

Damascus, Oct 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Turkish warplanes and drones launched intensive airstrikes late Wednesday and Thursday morning on Kurds-controlled areas in northern and eastern Syria, killing at least 13 people and injuring 15 others, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday.

The strikes were in response to a deadly terrorist attack in the Turkish capital Ankara on Wednesday, which Turkish authorities attributed to members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

According to the Britain-based war monitor, the Turkish military launched air raids on Kurds-controlled rural areas in the provinces of Hasakah and Raqqa, and the cities of Kobani and Tel Rifaat near the countryside of Aleppo, targeting key infrastructure such as water, gas, and electricity stations, as well as medical centers, bakeries, and civilian checkpoints.

In the northeastern province of Hasakah, a Turkish airstrike targeting a gas station in the Suwaydiyah area killed eight workers and wounded 15 civilians, the Observatory said, adding the wounded were rushed to nearby hospitals.

Local authorities said the death toll is expected to rise due to the severity of some injuries, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, in the northern Syrian city of Kobani, a drone strike killed a journalist working for the Kurdish internal security forces, known as Asayish, late Wednesday.

Further north in the city of Tel Rifaat in the northern countryside of Aleppo, artillery shelling by Turkish forces killed four civilians of the same family, including a young girl, said the Observatory.

Meanwhile, the pro-government Sham FM radio reported that Turkish drones and artillery targeted several positions of the Kurds-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including Qamishli's Gulf Street in Hasakah province, a position near the town of Amuda in the northern part of the province, and positions near the strategic M4 highway in the northern Raqqa province.

Thursday morning saw renewed drone attacks targeting a checkpoint near Qamishli's railway station, a bakery, and electricity stations in the town of Amuda, in addition to other vital civilian infrastructure in Hasakah province, according to Sham FM radio.

At least five people were killed and 22 others wounded on Wednesday in the terrorist attack at the production facility of Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. in Ankara, according to Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. Two attackers, identified by Yerlikaya as members of the PKK, were also killed during the assault.

In response, the Turkish Defence Ministry announced an air operation against PKK targets in Iraq and northern Syria, during which 32 PKK sites were "successfully destroyed."

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades.

Turkey considers the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and the SDF in Syria to be the PKK's Syrian branch.

Source: IANS