Day 2: Turkish military enters northern Syria; at least 22 killed

Turkey’s military advanced into a region east of the Euphrates river in northern Syria on Thursday after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered the attack against Kurdish militants leading the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

At least eleven members of the SDF and six from the Turkish side have been killed in clashes focused on the town of Tal Abyad and villages on its outskirts, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It was not immediately clear if the Turkish casualties were from the military or loyalist fighters. An additional five SDF fighters died in a Turkish assault on Ras Al-Ayn, it said.

Initial clashes, bombings kill at least 22, Syrian group says

The SDF is resisting an offensive by Turkish forces in and around Tal Abyad, where at least 11 members of the SDF along with six attackers were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday. Five fighters of the SDF were killed in a Turkish air and ground assault on Ras Al-Ayn on Wednesday, it said. Thirty-three members of the SDF were injured in the overall clashes, which included shelling and targeting by medium and heavy weapons in Ras Al-Ayn and other areas stretching from east of the Euphrates river to west of the Tigris. The SDF is hitting areas inside Turkish territory with mortars, the observatory said.

Source: Day 2: Turkish military enters northern Syria; at least 22 killed | Ahval