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Turkish Troops Advance Into Northern Syria, But Meeting Resistance from Kurdish SDF in Tal Abyad

October 10, 2019 

Editor's Note:

The following news stories are just examples of the daily horrors of war in Syria. Readers can find more detailed daily news stories at the sources below as well as many other sources in the internet. 

 

Syrian civilians fleeing the fighting zone at the start of the Turkish operation in northern Syria, October 9, 2019	Turkish military convoy in Kilis, near the Turkish-Syrian border, October 9, 2019

 

Five civilians lost their lives as a result of the Turkish bombing

sdf1 October 9, 2019

News Center –

The Turkish occupation army began at 16:00 on Wednesday afternoon with an air attack on the areas of northern and eastern Syria.

In addition to the aerial attacks on the areas of Keri Sbei / Tal Abyad and West Ayn Issa, the areas of Sari Kaneh / Ras al-Ain, Qamishlo, Darbasiyah and Dirk were subjected to intense artillery shelling by the occupation.

Three of our fighters have risen to martyrdom and five civilians have lost their lives, and dozens of civilians have been injured by intense shelling of civilian areas throughout the border

Our forces have frustrated the infiltration attempts of Turkish occupation army.

sdf1 October 10, 2019

Syrian Democratic Forces confronted a field incursion attempt by the Turkish occupation army in the hub of Tal Halaf and Sluk city.

The Internal Security Forces also confronted ISIS cell members who attacked civilians in Tuwaimiya village, south of Ras al-Ain.

Media Center for Syrian Democratic Forces

https://sdf-press.com/en/2019/10/our-forces-have-frustrated-the-infiltration-attempts-of-turkish-occupation-army/

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Turkish troops advance into northern Syria, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring on Wednesday to secure its borders

Anadolu News, Faruk Zorlu   | 10.10.2019

ANKARA --

Turkish troops are continuing their advance into northern Syria following a ground offensive launched as part of Operation Peace Spring, the Defense Ministry said early Thursday.

"Our heroic commandos who are participating in Operation Peace Spring continue to advance [into the region] east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria," the ministry said on Twitter.

Turkey launched the operation Wednesday to secure its borders by eliminating (Kurdish groups) and to ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees and Syria’s territorial integrity.

"Our army continues its fight against terrorists, while its main priority is to protect civilians from harm," Turkey's Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Twitter, touching on the purpose of the operation.

"Turkey, acting within the framework of its rights arising from international law and the ‘right of self-defense’ set out in the UN Charter, is determined to drain the swamp of terror that threatens our borders and poses a threat to the whole world. 

"It is our greatest expectation that the world public opinion will have the same determination in the fight against (Kurdish) organizations," Oktay said. 

Turkey has said the PKK terrorist group and its extension the YPG/PYD constitute the biggest threat to Syria’s future, jeopardizing the country’s territorial integrity and unitary structure.

Ankara has also stressed that supporting (Kurdish groups) under the pretext of fighting Daesh is unacceptable.

Turkey has a 911-kilometer (566-mile) border with Syria and has long decried the threat from terrorists east of the Euphrates and the formation of a “terrorist corridor” there.

Turkey plans to resettle 2 million Syrians in a 30-kilometer (19-mile) wide safe zone to be set up in Syria, stretching from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border, including Manbij. However, the presence of (Kurdish) groups such as the PKK, PYD and YPG risk its formation.

Turkey has rid an area of 4,000 square kilometers (1,544 square miles) in Syria of terrorist groups in two separate cross-border operations. Since 2016, Turkey has conducted two major military operations in northwestern Syria -- Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch -- to purge the region of the terrorist groups Daesh and the YPG, which is the Syrian branch of the PKK terrorist group.

The two operations were in line with the country’s right to self-defense borne out of international law, UN Security Council resolutions, especially no. 1624 (2005), 2170 (2014) and 2178 (2014), and under the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter while being respectful of Syria’s territorial integrity.

During Operation Euphrates Shield, Turkish forces neutralized 3,060 Daesh terrorists. Turkey has suffered greatly from Daesh attacks inside the country. More than 300 people have been killed in attacks claimed by Daesh in Turkey, where the terrorist group has targeted civilians in suicide bombings and armed attacks in recent years.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

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No ‘peace’ spring: Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria met with worldwide condemnation

RT TV, 10 Oct, 2019

Ankara’s operation against Kurdish-led militias in northeastern Syria has been criticized across Europe and the Middle East, as one country after another sounded the alarm over the impact to the Syrian peace process.

The offensive by Turkish army and affiliated Syrian “opposition” militants kicked off on Wednesday with massive air and artillery strikes, followed by a land invasion dubbed ‘Operation Peace Spring.’

The EU has condemned the invasion and urged Turkey to halt it, expressing doubt the proclaimed goal of establishing a “safe zone” where refugees could return would be reached. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that Ankara should not “expect the EU to pay for any of” the said zone.

“The EU calls upon Turkey to cease the unilateral military action,” the 28 members of the bloc said in a joint statement. “It is unlikely that a so-called 'safe zone' in north-east Syria, as envisaged by Turkey, would satisfy international criteria for refugee return.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged his Turkish counterpart to “gauge the situation comprehensively” so that Ankara’s actions would not undermine the peace process in Syria.

An extraordinary UN Security Council meeting to assess the situation in Syria has been called by France and the UK and is expected to be held behind closed doors on Thursday, according to media reports.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the Turkish actions were “jeopardizing the anti-Islamic State coalition's security and humanitarian efforts,” while his Dutch counterpart Stef Blok condemned the invasion and summoned Ankara’s envoy over it.

Egypt has urged the UNSC to halt “any attempts to occupy Syrian territories” and condemned the Turkish aggression in the “strongest terms,” calling for an emergency meeting of the League of Arab States as well. Similar reactions came from Saudi Arabia, Bahrein, Iran and others.

The invasion began two days after US President Donald Trump decided to pull US troops out from northeastern Syria, in a move his critics – but also some allies – have condemned as an open betrayal of the Kurdish-led militias, namely the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF have served as ground troops for the US-led campaign against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists since 2015. However, Turkey – a long-time NATO ally – has complained about Washington providing weapons and training to the groups that it perceives as a threat to its security and has designated as terrorists.

Trump insisted that he did not endorse the Turkish invasion in any way, calling it a “bad idea,” and yet again promised to “wipe out” Turkey’s economy if Ankara fails to protect civilians and religious minorities, or fails to ensure no humanitarian crisis takes place.

https://www.rt.com/news/470575-turkey-invasion-worldwide-condemnation/

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The following are news stories from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) website (http://www.syriahr.com/en/):

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SDF thwart the first round of the offensive by Turkish forces and factions loyal to them on Tal Abyad area amid continuing violent shelling on the area

10/10/2019

The Syria Democratic Forces managed to thwart the first round of the offensive by Turkish forces and factions loyal to them on Tal Abyad area and villages in its outskirts, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented more human losses due to the shelling and clashes, where at least 11 members of the SDF were killed in addition to the killing of 6 members of the attackers whose identity is not known so far whether being of the Turkish forces or of the factions loyal to them.

Five  fighters of the SDF were killed due to Turkish air and ground strikes on Ras Al-Ayn area during this day, Wednesday, while more than 33 members of the SDF were injured with varying severity due to the aerial and ground bombardment and clashes in the first day of the Operation “Peace Spring” announced by Turkey with Syrian factions loyal to it, while the exchange of shelling and targeting by medium and heavy weapons between the both parties, concentrated in places in the vicinity and outskirts of the areas of Al-Qahtaniyyeh, Amuda, Ayn Al-Arab, Tal Abyad, Ras Al-Ayn, Al-Derbasiyyeh, Al-Qamishli and Al-Malikiyah within the area stretched from east Euphrates River until west Tigris River, and in the same context, the SDF continue their targeting to positions inside the Turkish territory by mortars.

And the SOHR published short time ago, that it monitored the Turkish forces storming the Syrian territory today evening, Wednesday the 9th of October 2019, where violent clashes erupted at the outskirts of Tal Abyad and villages in its western outskirts between the Turkish forces against the Syria Democratic Forces, accompanied by Turkish heavy preliminary shelling in an attempt to advance into the area, along with the continuation of displacement movement by citizens from the area, amid a state of worry and fear by citizens, also the Turkish rocket shelling is still continuing on different areas stretched from east Euphrates River until west Tigris River.

The Syrian observatory for Human Rights published a short time ago that it documented the death of 8 citizens due to the Turkish ground shelling on the area of east Euphrates, they are: 3 persons (a man his wife and their child) were killed in the shelling which targeted Matkalat village in the countryside of Tal Abyad area in the northern countryside of Al-Raqqah, a man and a citizen woman of the Syriac component due to shelling by the Turkish forces on Al-Beshayriyyeh neighborhood in Al-Qamishli city, a child girl was killed in shelling that targeted Al-Qahtaniyyeh countryside, a man was killed in the shelling on the vicinity of Tal Abyad, and another citizen was killed in targeting to the vicinity and countryside of Ras Al-Ayn area in Al-Hasakah countryside, while the Turkish shelling also left at least 13 civilian injuries, and the number of casualties is expected to increase due to the presence of some injuries in critical condition.

In the same context, it rose to 7, the number of members of the Syria Democratic Forces who were killed in Turkish aerial and ground bombardment on positions of them in Tal Abyad and Ras Al-Ayn areas, and the number of casualties is expected to increase due to the presence of more than 28 injuries some of whom are in critical condition, in addition to the presence of information about other casualties.

While the SOHR monitored clashes in the areas of Qasr Deeb and Ayn Dewar in Al-Malikiyah countryside at the Syrian – Turkish border, between the Syria Democratic Forces against the Turkish forces, accompanied by exchange of shelling and targeting, while the Turkish forces carried out a new round of rocket shelling, targeting places in Hamdounah village and Kharzi west of Amuda area, as well as other places in the areas of Ras Al-Ayn and Tal Abyad. 

The Turkish forces start attempts to storm Tal Abyad area by a violent and intense preliminary rocket shelling

SOHR, 10/10/2019

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the Turkish forces storming the Syrian territory today evening, Wednesday the 9th of October 2019, where violent clashes erupted at the outskirts of Tal Abyad and villages in its western outskirts between the Turkish forces against the Syria Democratic Forces, accompanied by Turkish heavy preliminary shelling in an attempt to advance into the area, along with the continuation of displacement movement by citizens from the area, amid a state of worry and fear by citizens, also the Turkish rocket shelling is still continuing on different areas stretched from east Euphrates River until west Tigris River.

The Syrian observatory for Human Rights published a short time ago that it documented the death of 8 citizens due to the Turkish ground shelling on the area of east Euphrates, they are: 3 persons (a man his wife and their child) were killed in the shelling which targeted Matkalat village in the countryside of Tal Abyad area in the northern countryside of Al-Raqqah, a man and a citizen woman of the Syriac component due to shelling by the Turkish forces on Al-Beshayriyyeh neighborhood in Al-Qamishli city.

A child girl was killed in shelling that targeted Al-Qahtaniyyeh countryside, a man was killed in the shelling on the vicinity of Tal Abyad, and another citizen was killed in targeting to the vicinity and countryside of Ras Al-Ayn area in Al-Hasakah countryside, while the Turkish shelling also left at least 13 civilian injuries, and the number of casualties is expected to increase due to the presence of some injuries in critical condition.

In the same context, it rose to 7, the number of members of the Syria Democratic Forces who were killed in Turkish aerial and ground bombardment on positions of them in Tal Abyad and Ras Al-Ayn areas, and the number of casualties is expected to increase due to the presence of more than 28 injuries some of whom are in critical condition, in addition to the presence of information about other casualties.

While the SOHR monitored clashes in the areas of Qasr Deeb and Ayn Dewar in Al-Malikiyah countryside at the Syrian – Turkish border, between the Syria Democratic Forces against the Turkish forces, accompanied by exchange of shelling and targeting, while the Turkish forces carried out a new round of rocket shelling, targeting places in Hamdounah village and Kharzi west of Amuda area, as well as other places in the areas of Ras Al-Ayn and Tal Abyad. 

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