In the early hours of Sunday morning, Turkish aircraft carried out intensive air strikes, targeting Kurdish and Syrian Armed Forces forces near Aleppo, killing five regime soldiers, reported UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Turkish warplanes launched air strikes on 27 November in the vicinity of Tel Rifaat and the Menagh Military Airbase, in Aleppo, northern Syria, reported North Press Agency. The attacks on Sunday also targeted a Russian military base.
Turkey has been launching aerial attacks against North and East Syria since 19 November, and Turkish officials regularly mention an impending ground operation.
Many areas of northern Syria have been bombarded over the last week, and Kobanê has been a primary target, reported North Press Agency.
Reportedly due to Turkish military escalation in the area, the Russian Military Police cancelled a joint patrol scheduled to take place in Kobanê with Turkish forces.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has said that more than 90 districts and villages have so-far been subjected to both Turkish air and land bombardment as a part of the on-going operations, reported Hawar News Agency.
German news agency ZDF reported last week that international law experts do not agree with the way Turkey is exercising its right of self-defence. Head of the International Crimes Unit at the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) told ZDF that Turkey’s current attack is incompatible with international law.