Türkiye launches artillery strikes on SAA, SDF positions in Kobanî

Soldiers deployed to border areas. (Photo: Tasnim News)

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The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) launched artillery strikes on a border outpost in Kobanî, northern Syria, on Sunday (September 18).

The strikes targeted a border outpost controlled jointly by by Syria's army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), according to the the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights (SOHR).

Three soldiers of Syria were killed and two SDF members were wounded in the strikes, the SOHR reported.

Türkiye's Ministry of National Defense the "punishment strikes" were in response to the killing of a soldier in Suruç, a border town in the southeastern Urfa province.

"Seventeen terrorists were neutralized" in the strikes, according to the ministry.

After the killing of three soldiers last month, Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported that the government forces would respond to Türkiye's attacks.

Over the past couple of months, Türkiye has carried out several artillery and drone strikes in northern Syria, especially after the trilateral summit between presidents of Türkiye, Russia and Iran in Tehran.

While Türkiye has carried out several major cross-border military operations in Syria's north, it rarely targeted forces loyal to Syria.

Since late May, Ankara has expressed its intentions to launch a new offensive targeting the Kurdish-led forces.

As part of the agreements between Damascus and the SDF against a possible military incursion by Türkiye, troops of Syria have been deployed near the Türkiye-Syria border.

"Syria can't afford larger-scale fighting"

Last week, the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic unveiled a new report about the situation in the country, warning against new "larger-scale fighting."

"Today, Syrians face increasing and intolerable hardships, living among the ruins of this lengthy conflict. Millions are suffering and dying in displacement camps, while resources are becoming scarcer and donor fatigue is rising," Paulo Pinheiro, head of the commission, said on September 14.

"Syria cannot afford a return to larger-scale fighting, but that is where it may be heading," he warned.

"We also see continued operations by Israel, as well as the U.S., Turkey and Iran-backed forces, in this protracted conflict," Commissioner Lynn Welchman said. (AEK/VK)