Turkish air strikes, that began in the early hours of Sunday on north and east Syria and northern Iraq, now continue into Monday.
Turkish warplanes bombed the Shahba Canton and the villages in Idlib in the first hours of Monday, ANHA news agency reported. According to initial reports, four Damascus soldiers were injured in the bombings as well.
Turkey is also bombing the villages of Kobanê and the villages to the east and north of Manbij.
The airstrikes, announced by the Turkish Ministry of Defence in the early hours of Sunday morning with the message “the treacherous attacks are being held to account”, have killed more than two dozen people.
Turkish warplanes also destroyed the Corona Hospital in Kobanê, the power station in Derik and grain silos in Dahr al-Arab, Zarkan (Zirgan).
The Rojava Information Center (RIC) documented the effects of Turkey’s airstrikes in an area where nine civilians, including a journalist, were killed.
Turkish forces bombed the areas Kobani, Shahba, Zirgan and Derik on Sunday; one of the bombs targeting a car in the village of Taqil Baqil, which resulted in two deaths.
After the first attack in a village in Derik in Qamishlo, locals went to the scene to help the wounded, but seven were killed in a second airstrike. Among these was ANHA journalist Isam Abdullah, who was reporting at the scene.
Funerals for those killed in the bombings are being held on Monday.
The Turkish Ministry of Defence announced that the Turkish Armed Forces hit 89 targets in North and East Syria and Northern Iraq in the air strikes.
NTV reported that Syrian airspace under the control of Russia was also used by the Turkish Armed Forces in the operation. This means that the Syrian airspace under the control of Russia was opened to Turkish warplanes for the first time in years.
Ankara’s pursuit of military operations against Kurds in northern Syria had led to a turn in Turkey’s policy and a possible reconciliation with Damascus.
After a decade of open hostility, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan first stated his desire to reconcile with the Assad regime in August, as Turkish attacks on north and east Syria were consistently increasing.
