Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces sit atop an armored personnel carrier on the outskirts of the town of al-Shadadi in the northeastern Syrian province of Hasakah. (File photo: AFP)
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies had launched a large land offensive targeting three villages on Thursday despite a truce and urged the US to intervene immediately to stop the attack.
In a statement, the SDF said the attack by Turkish forces on the villages “outside the area of the ceasefire” had forced thousands of civilians to flee. “Our forces are still clashing,” it said.
The SDF held Turkey responsible for “deterioration of the ceasefire process,” it added.
“Despite our forces’ commitment to the ceasefire decision and the withdrawal of our forces from the entire ceasefire area, the Turkish state and the terrorist factions allied to it are still violating the ceasefire process,” it said.
Separately, SDF official Mustafa Bali said in a tweet that the SDF would exercise its legitimate right to self-defense.
Turkish army have been attacking villages of Assadiya, Mishrafa and Manajer with a large number of mercenaries and all kinds of heavy weapons despite the truce. SDF will exercise its right to legitimate self defense and we are not responsible for the violation of the agreement.
— Mustafa Bali (@mustefabali) October 24, 2019
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