ISTANBUL – Turkey pounded Kurdish militia in northeast Syria for a second day on Thursday, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee and killing at least dozens of people in a cross-border assault on United States (US) allies.
The offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by Kurdish YPG militia, which began days after Trump pulled US troops out of the way, opened one of the biggest new fronts in years in an eight-year-old civil war that drew global powers.
The SDF have been the main allies of US forces in the battle against Islamic State (IS) since 2014. They have been holding thousands of captured IS fighters in prisons and tens of thousands of their relatives in detention.
Turkey’s defense ministry said 228 militants were killed so far in the attacks.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, meanwhile, said at least 23 fighters with the SDF and six fighters with a Turkish-backed Syrian rebel group were killed.(Reuters)
