Turkish bombings in Kobani: Over 30 dead, Kurds say we will respond

Turkish raids in northern Syria have killed at least 31 people, mostly Kurdish fighters and Syrian soldiers, according to the latest tally by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The airstrikes launched late Saturday night and today before dawn by the Turkish army in the provinces of Raqqa and Hasakeh (northeast) and Aleppo (north) killed 18 Kurdish fighters and members of local allied forces, 12 Syrian soldiers and one civilian, the Observatory, which has a wide network of imgs in war-torn Syria, said. 40 people were also injured.

Syrian Kurdish-led forces, namely the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by the People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, said they would retaliate against the Turkish strikes.

Meanwhile, a Turkish soldier and two policemen were injured by a rocket fired from Syrian territory on Sunday in Turkey’s Kilis province, on the border with Syria, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

According to Anadolu, the missile fell near a border post but gave no further details. Earlier, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said they would retaliate against airstrikes launched by Turkey today.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had given the order for the start of Operation Sword in Syria and northern Iraqas shown in the video published by the Turkish presidency.

The operation was carried out in retaliation for the Istanbul bombing just last week. According to the Turkish Ministry of Defense, the bombings took place in areas used for attacks against the country.

Erdogan gave the order while returning from Indonesia. The Turkish president sits alone at the head of the table and listens carefully to Hulusi Akar, who explains the plan to him, in the presence of military officials. At the same time, Akar shows him details of the operation on the map, which has been blurred for security reasons.