Qamishli, Syria– Turkish strikes on Kurdish targets killed two people in northeastern Syria on Thursday, a monitoring group said, after Ankara had threatened raids in retaliation for a bomb attack.
One of the strikes on the Kurdish-controlled region of Hasakeh hit a car, killing two people, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group with a network of sources on the ground.
A spokesman for a Kurdish-dominated coalition that is backed by the United States confirmed a car had been targeted.
In another strike, “Turkish drones targeted a factory north of Hasakeh, injuring three workers”, said Farhad Shami, the spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
He reported intensive overflights of areas controlled by the autonomous Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria “following Turkish threats”.
Turkey has also launched strikes on positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq since Sunday, when two policemen were wounded in an attack in Ankara claimed by the PKK.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan alleged the perpetrators of the attack had been trained in Syria and warned of reprisals against Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi denied the accusation on Wednesday, saying: “Turkey is looking for pretexts to legitimize its ongoing attacks on our region and to launch a new military aggression”.
The Democratic Union Party (PYD), whose armed wing spearheaded the fight against the Islamic State group in northern Syria with US backing, said on Thursday that “the Turkish foreign minister’s statements are tantamount to a declaration of war”.
The PYD called on the international anti-IS coalition to “take a stand” and be on its side.
Kurdish forces spearheaded the offensive that defeated IS jihadists in Syria in 2019 and are still supported by the United States.
They control a semi-autonomous Kurdish area in war-torn northeastern Syria, which is regularly targeted by Turkish drone attacks.
Between 2016 and 2019, Turkey carried out three major operations in northern Syria against Kurdish forces.