West Urges Turkish Restraint in Syria as Fighting Escalates

The U.S. and France on Tuesday urged Turkey to exercise restraint in Syria, as fierce fighting around a Kurdish enclave in the north of the country entered its fourth day, Agence France-Presse reported.

Turkey’s push against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia in the Kurdish stronghold of Afrin has killed at least 28 civilians since “Operation Olive Branch” started on Saturday, AFP said, citing the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The SOHR said that fierce clashes broke out on Tuesday between Turkish-backed forces and YPG fighters to the northeast, northwest and southwest of Afrin, AFP said. Turkish drones and artillery also carried out attacks on YPG targets inside Syria, according to the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency, AFP reported.

The SOHR said 43 Turkey-backed rebels and 38 Kurdish fighters had been killed in clashes since Saturday, according to AFP. The Turkish military, however, alleges that its forces have killed 260 Kurdish fighters and so-called Islamic State militants in Syria in the offensive, according to Reuters. ISIS, however, is not known to be operating in the Afrin region.

Additionally, at least three Turkish troops have been killed since Saturday, according to AFP.

U.S. defense secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday urged Turkey to show “restraint” and warned that the offensive “disrupts what was a relatively stable area in Syria and distracts from the international effort to defeat” ISIS, according to AFP.

U.S. president Donald Trump is expected to raise concerns over Turkey’s escalated attacks on Afrin during a phone call with his Turkish counterpart on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron “told his Turkish counterpart of his concern over the military intervention,” during a phone call on Tuesday, AFP said, citing Macron’s office.

Separately, Turkish security forces have detained around 150 people, including politicians, activists and journalists. They are accused of disseminating “terrorist propaganda” regarding operations in Afrin, Reuters said.

Many of those detained are being held over social media posts criticizing Turkey’s Afrin offensive. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that criticism of Turkey’s offensive on social media amounted to the “biggest villainy.”

Reuters quoted Yildirim as saying, “Social media does not mean irresponsible media, we started holding those accountable for the crimes being committed here. We will never allow those who try to smear the operation that serves peace.”

Washington Blames Russia for Syria Chemical Weapons Attacks

Russia bears responsibility for chemical attacks in Syria, the U.S. said on Tuesday, after reports alleged a chlorine gas attack targeted the rebel-held Damascus suburbs this week, AFP reported.

Medical workers and Syrian Civil Defense accused the Syrian government on Monday of targeting the besieged Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus with chlorine gas. The attack reportedly injured 21 people.

“Whoever conducted the attacks, Russia ultimately bears responsibility for the victims in East Ghouta and countless other Syrians targeted with chemical weapons since Russia became involved in Syria,” U.S. secretary of state Rex Tillerson was quoted as saying by AFP.

“There is simply no denying that Russia, by shielding its Syrian ally, has breached its commitments to the U.S. as a framework guarantor,” he added, referring to a 2013 agreement in which the U.S. and Russia vowed to remove Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles.

Tillerson’s comments on Tuesday were made in Paris, where the U.S., France and 22 other countries launched an organization aimed at identifying and sanctioning individuals implicated in the use of chemical weapons in Syria, according to the Associated Press.

“The group plans to publish information about chemical attacks to name and shame perpetrators and eventually sanction them,” the AP said. Sanctions could include asset freezing and entry bans as well as criminal trials at a national level, AFP reported.

Coalition Strike Reportedly Kills 150 ISIS Fighters in Syria

The U.S.-led coalition claimed it killed some 150 so-called Islamic State militants in airstrikes on east Syria on Saturday, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The strikes targeted the Syrian middle Euphrates River Valley. Reuters said they took place near the As Shafah region, which is located on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River.

“The precision strikes were a culmination of extensive intelligence preparation to confirm an ISIS headquarters and command and control center in an exclusively ISIS-occupied location in the contested middle Euphrates River Valley,” the coalition said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Recommended Reads:

• BBC: How Historical Afrin Became a Prize Worth a War
• Agence France-Presse: Turkish Attack Highlights Syrian Kurds’ Isolation
• Associated Press: U.S. Pulled Multiple Ways in Syria as Islamic State Recedes
• NPR: Why Are U.S. Allies Killing Each Other in Syria?
• The New York Times: A Syria Plan That Breaks the Law