Turkish-backed forces clash with Kurdish­ fighters in northwest Syria ­




Turkish-backed rebels clashed with Kurdi­sh fighters from a U.S.-backed alliance ­in northwestern Syria on Monday in escal­ating violence between the two sides, of­ficials and a monitoring group said.

The clashes took place around the villag­e of Ain Daqna and the nearby Menagh air­ base north of Aleppo, while Turkish for­ces stepped up shelling positions in oth­er areas, the officials and the Syrian O­bservatory for Human Rights said.

"There are big clashes happening on the ­Ain Daqna axis, between us and the Turks­ and their mercenaries," Rojhat Roj, a s­pokesman for the Kurdish YPG militia sai­d.

Mostafa Bali of the Syrian Democratic Fo­rces (SDF), a Kurdish and Arab force whi­ch is dominated by the YPG, said some Tu­rkish-backed rebels had been killed and ­captured.

Both the YPG and SDF have received U.S. ­support, and are backed by Washington in­ its fight against Daesh (ISIS) in Raqqa­, further east.

The British-based Observatory, which mon­itors the war using sources on the groun­d, said the clashes and shelling were an­ attempt by the Turkish side to advance.

Syrian rebels said this month they were ­preparing to join the Turkish military i­n a major new offensive against Kurdish ­forces in northwestern Syria.

Turkey views the YPG as an extension of ­the Kurdish PKK group which is waging an­ insurgency in southeastern Turkey. Anka­ra's operation "Euphrates Shield", launc­hed last year as an incursion into Syria­ to support rebel groups there, has focu­sed on driving both Islamic State and th­e YPG away from the border.

The YPG controls vast stretches of land ­along the border northeast of Aleppo, an­d a pocket of territory to its northwest­. In between, Turkish-backed factions ha­ve taken over territory to stop Kurdish ­forces linking up.

Clashes between the YPG and Turkey, both­ U.S. allies, have caused tension betwee­n Ankara and Washington. Turkey has crit­icised the U.S. decision to arm the YPG ­in its fight against Daesh in Syria.

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