Offensive in Syria. Kurdish forces accuse Turkey of bombing jihadist prison

Kurdish forces blame Turkey for bombing a jail with many Islamic State jihadists.

In the aftermath of Ankara's first offensive, Kurdish forces in Syria accuse Turkey of bombing Wednesday night a jail house housing many Islamic State (IS) jihadists in an "obvious attempt" to help them. to flee.

In a statement released on Thursday, Kurdish authorities in Syria say the bombing targeted a sector of Chirkin prison in the city of Kamichli, where jihadists of more than 60 different nationalities are held. They do not provide additional details.

"These attacks on prisons housing Daesh terrorists will lead to a disaster that the world may not be able to cope with in the future," they write in a statement.

Sporadic artillery fire

Kurdish forces also announced Thursday that they have repulsed another ground attack by the Turkish army on the border between the two countries in northeastern Syria.

Sporadic artillery fire from the Turkish army was also reported Thursday morning in the border areas of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

For its part, the Turkish Ministry of Defense stated that its operation had been "successfully conducted during the night, in the air and on the ground" , ensuring that "designated targets" had been "captured" , without giving more than details.

Eight civilians killed by air strikes

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, has announced it has repelled a ground attack in the area of ​​Ras al-Ain.

"Our forces have blocked an attempt by the Turkish occupation army to land on the Tal-Halaf / Allouk axis," it said in a statement from the FDS.

On Wednesday night, the SDF assured that it had repelled a similar attack in the Tal Abyad area. At least 19 Kurdish fighters and eight civilians have been killed since Wednesday by Turkish air strikes and artillery shelling that targeted areas on the border between the two countries, according to the OSDH.

Emergency meeting of the UN Security Council

The offensive provoked an international outcry and an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council is due to take place on Thursday.

The stated objective of the operation, unveiled by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is to move the main Syrian Kurdish militia, the People's Protection Units (YPGs), the backbone of the SDS, from the border.

Combined with Westerners in the struggle against the Islamic State (IS) group, the YPGs are considered by Ankara to be a "terrorist" organization for their links with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

According to the Turkish daily Hürriyet, Turkey plans to first take control of a strip of territory at the border of 120 km long and deep about thirty kilometers.

Turkey's offensive is the third in Syria since 2016. It opens a new front in a conflict that has claimed more than 370,000 lives and displaced millions since 2011.

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