SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Two civilians were killed in an attack by the Turkish-backed rebel allies in east of Ain Issa in northern Syria, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Saturday.
In a statement, the SDF said the Turkish military and its rebel allies attacked the villages of al-Mashifa and Jahbal, east of Ain Issa, on Saturday morning.
The attack coincided with intensive artillery shelling targeting the area and the M4 highway, the SDF stated.
“Violent clashes erupted between our forces and the mercenaries in which five mercenaries were killed,” the Kurdish-led group added.
The SDF forces captured bodies of two Turkish rebel fighters, it continued.
Earlier, Rojava news agencies reported that the Turkish military shelled the villages of Jahbal, Mashifa, Maalak, Ain Issa camp and M4 highway in northern Syria.
The Turkish military intermittently shells areas under the control of Kurdish forces in northern Syria.
Turkey regards the Syrian Kurdish forces as a “terrorist group” tied to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) inside its own borders, and has staged incursions into Syria in support of Syrian rebels to push it back from the Turkish frontier.
*This story was updated at 12:25 p.m. EBL time
