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Turkish Tanks Shell Syrian Kurdish Village

Shells fired by Turkish artillery fall on Kurdish town of Zur Maghar, injuring four, according to human rights monitoring group
Turkish Tanks Shell Syrian Kurdish Village

Turkish tanks shelled a village held by Kurdish forces in northern Syria overnight, wounding at least four allied fighters, AFP said.

“A number of shells fired by Turkish tanks fell on the village of Zur Maghar, which is controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG)”, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Director of the Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, said four fighters belonging to a non-YPG rebel force fighting alongside the Kurds against the Islamic State (ISIS) group were injured in the attack.

Zur Maghar lies along the border with Turkey, east of the town of Jarabulus, in Aleppo province.

In recent days, Turkey has begun striking ISIS positions in Syria and arresting the group’s sympathizers at home, also extended its campaign to include the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in Iraq, a Kurdish group with strong links to the YPG in Syria.

Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist organization, and in recent days has hit the group’s positions in northern Iraq with its heaviest air strikes since August 2011.

“This shelling comes after Turkey declared war on Daesh [ISIS] and a war against the PKK”, Syrian Kurdish activist Mustafa Ebdi said, adding, “Now the YPG is facing attacks from ISIS and Turkey.”

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