Kurdish-led SDF gain back control over most of Ras al-Ain border city: Monitor

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) gain back control over most of the border city of Ras al-Ain, in a counterattack which killed 17 from Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday.

The monitor also said that at least 24 civilians were killed on Sunday due to Turkey’s offensive.

On Saturday, a senior Turkish security official had said that the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition seized control of the city.

“The [Syrian opposition] national army took control of the town center this morning. Inspections are being conducted in residential areas,” the official said.

Syrian Kurdish-led forced denied on Saturday that Turkey had seized Ras al-Ain.

The Turkish military and allied Syrian opposition forces have been advancing in villages around Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, under the cover of Turkish artillery and some airstrikes.

Turkey is fighting the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which it considers a threat for its links to a decades-long Kurdish insurgency within its own borders.