A Turkish air and ground offensive was targeting Kurdish militia facilities in northern Syria, Turkish state broadcaster TRT reported on Thursday.
An offensive against “terrorist targets’’ started early Thursday in response to the weekend suicide bomb attack in the capital Ankara, TRT said, citing security sources.
The attack in Ankara was claimed by the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey considers the PKK and the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia along its borders as terrorist groups and a national threat.
Turkey primarily targeted the posts of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told dpa.
At least 10 people were killed in Turkish drone attacks, including fighters and civilians, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian observatory.
He added that five others were wounded.
The attacks intensified in the al-Hassakeh countryside in Syria’s north-east where energy and infrastructure facilities were hit, the monitor head added.
The SDF confirmed Turkish strikes and casualties in a separate statement.
On Wednesday, Turkey carried out air strikes against Kurdish militants based in northern Iraq.
The latest Turkish offensive came a day after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan threatened to target all infrastructure and energy facilities belonging to Kurdish militant groups in Syria and Iraq.
Turkey wanted to push the Kurdish militia away from its borders and already controlled a swathe of land in northern Syria following several military campaigns there.
Ankara also had military bases in northern Iraq, where it separately carried out routine air strikes against the PKK, considered terrorists by the EU and U.S.
