The Turkish army struck positions of Kurdish fighters inside Syria
for a second day Sunday in response to incoming fire, state media said,
as an explosive stand-off between Ankara and Syrian Kurds intensified.
The
army hit Democratic Union Party (PYD) targets around the Syrian town of
Azaz using howitzers stationed on the Turkish side of the border, the
state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
Turkish forces carried out a similar bombardment on Saturday. Anatolia gave no further details but military sources quoted by Turkish media said the new exchange took place from 07:00 GMT.
Turkish
forces would continue to strike PYD targets in Syria as long as the
army came under fire from their positions, the military sources added.
Turkish media reports said the fire was clearly audible from the border crossing close to the southern Turkish town of Kilis. NTV television said Turkish forces had also captured three suspected PYD members in Kilis, without giving further details.
In
Damascus, the Syrian government that is strongly opposed by Turkey
condemned the attacks on its "territorial integrity" and urged the
United Nations to act, Syrian state media said.
'Won't watch from sidelines'
Turkey
has been gravely alarmed by the push by the PYD and its People's
Protection Units (YPG) militia westwards along the Syrian border to the
flashpoint town of Azaz. Ankara accuses the PYD of being the
Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a
decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state that intensified in
the last few months.
But Washington has been relying on the YPG as
one of its few effective allies on the ground in the fight against
Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists in northern Syria. The PKK is recognised by the United States as a terror group but not the YPG or PYD.
The
issue is causing increasing friction between the two NATO allies and
complicating efforts to find a solution to Syria's five year civil war. US
State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement late
Saturday that Washington urged Turkey to cease its cross-border
artillery fire.
He said the United States had also urged the
Kurdish fighters "not to take advantage of a confused situation by
seizing new territory".
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