Turkey Says Kurdish YPG Killed Three in North Syria Rocket Attack

Checkpoint attack also kills Turkey-backed rebels in Ras al-Ayn

Turkey’s Defense Ministry has issued a statement on Tuesday reporting that Kurdish YPG fighters carried out a missile attack in the region around Tel Abyad, in northern Syria. They reported the missile hit near a school, killing three and wounding eight.

The report comes amid Turkish claims that the Kurdish YPG did not withdraw from the Syrian safe zone, despite US and Russian ceasefire deals assuring that they would. This incident took place inside the safe zone.

There was a report from the Syrian state media of a second attack, in the city of Ras al-Ayn, though with no report of responsibility so far. In this case, a car bomb attacked a checkpoint held by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels, killing an unspecified number of them.

Ras al-Ayn is directly on the Turkish border with Syria, and reports from the aftermath of the car bombing said that many of the wounded rebels were ferried into Turkey for treatment.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.