Kurdish-backed fighters in Syria say they will not withdraw from the areas they have recently captured in the country's north, after Turkey shelled their positions in Aleppo province for a second day.
Turkey has demanded that the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing of the Syria's Democratic Union Party (PYD), give up the territories it has gained in the last few days from Turkish-backed Syrian armed groups.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Afrin on Sunday, Tarek Abu Zeid, a spokesman of Jaish al-Thuwar, a YPG ally, said: "We recently captured Menagh airbase, and we are close to capturing Tal Rifaat."
Referring to the Islamic State of the Iraq and Levant (ISIL) group, he said: "Our aim is to reach ISIL-controlled territories.
"We want to fight this terrorist group. Turkey wants us to return to Afrin. This won't happen. We are advancing, we won't retreat."
'Stabbed in the back'
A Turkish government official told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the army was continuing to target positions of the YPG and its allies in northern Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, also reported the artillery bombardment, saying that two fighters died on Sunday.
Turkey has been warning the Kurdish fighters, which it sees as "terrorists", not to expand their positions since the beginning of the conflict in 2011.
The YPG is in control of almost all of Syrian-Turkish border and, in recent days, the group and its allies have expanded their territorial gains by taking advantage of a major Russia-backed government offensive in Aleppo.
The advances by both the Syrian government and the YPG are putting pressure on the opposition.
"We are being stabbed in the back in the northern countryside by the PKK and its ally Jaish al-Thawar," said Mudar Najjar, a commander for the Free Syria Army.
"They took advantage of the fact that we were fighting on two fronts - against the regime and ISIL."........http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/syria-kurds-won-retreat-turkish-shelling-160214141157968.html
14/2/16
--
-
Related:
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
France's foreign ministry has urged Turkey to end its assault on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria...
ReplyDeleteIn a statement (in French) it said it was "worried about the continued worsening of the situation".
On Saturday, Turkey began shelling the militia, which it says is linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The fighters - the YPG militia based in Syria - have rejected Turkey's demand to leave areas it has seized, saying Islamists would return if it left.
Turkey's assault is a new thread in an already-complex conflict that has drawn in competing regional powers.
A statement on Syria's state news agency also condemned Turkey's intervention, calling it "outrageous violation of international law".
France also called on the regime and its allies to stop their bombardments "across the whole of the country".
France said priority should be given to implementing an agreement reached in Munich this week, and the fight against so-called Islamic State (IS) group....http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35572747