US ‘deeply concerned’ about violence on Syria-Turkey border
Mourners attend a funeral for people killed in reported artillery fire by Syrian government forces in the opposition-held city of Al-Bab on the border with Turkey
Washington is “deeply concerned” about a recent flare-up of violence along Syria’s northern border with Turkey, a State Department spokesman said Monday.
“The United States is deeply concerned about recent attacks along Syria´s northern border and urges all parties to maintain ceasefire lines,” said spokesman Ned Price, days after increased bombardments in the area reportedly killed at least 21 civilians — including children.
“We deplore the civilian casualties in Al-Bab, Hasakah, and elsewhere,” said Price, adding that the United States remained committed “to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS and a political resolution to the Syrian conflict.”
The recent bloodshed came against a backdrop of increased tensions pitting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against Turkish troops and their Syrian proxies.
On Friday, Kurdish authorities said that a pre-dawn strike by a Turkish drone hit “a training centre for young girls” in the Shmouka area near Hasakeh in the northeast, killing four children and wounding 11.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor with a broad network of sources on the ground, confirmed the toll.
In Al-Bab, a town under the control of Syrian factions loyal to Ankara, “artillery fire on a market by pro-regime forces killed 17 civilians — including six children — and wounded another 35,” the Observatory said.
An AFP correspondent said the strike on the town near the Syria-Turkey border had ripped through a market, describing it as a jumble of body parts, strewn vegetables and mangled handcarts.
By AFP
