Turkish forces faced fierce resistance from US-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters on the third day of Ankara's offensive in northern Syria, as casualties mounted, international criticism of the campaign intensified and estimates put the number of those who fled the violence at 100,000.
An explosion was reported in northern Syria near an outpost where US troops are located, but none of the Americans were hurt, according to a US official and a Syria war monitor. It was unclear whether it was from artillery or an airstrike, and it was the first time a coalition base was in the line of fire since Turkey's offensive began. Turkey said the US was not targeted.
The Turkish Defence Ministry said its forces were returning fire after being targeted by Kurdish fighters about half a mile from the US outpost, and ended the strike after communicating with the US.
Turkey said it captured more Kurdish-held villages in the border region, while a hospital in a Syrian town was abandoned and a camp of 4,000 displaced residents about 12 kilometres (7 miles) from the frontier was evacuated after artillery shells landed nearby.
Military vehicles are deployed at a staging area for the Turkish Armed Forces along the border with the Syrian town of Tall Abyad. Source: picture alliance
Reflecting international fears that Turkey's offensive could revive the Islamic State group, two car bombs exploded outside a restaurant in the Kurdish-controlled urban centre of Qamishli, killing three people, and the extremists claimed responsibility. The city also was heavily shelled by Turkish forces.
Kurdish fighters waged intense battles against advancing Turkish troops that sought to take control of two major towns along the Turkish-Syrian border, a war monitor said.
The UN estimated the number of displaced at 100,000 since Wednesday, saying that markets, schools and clinics also were closed. Aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian crisis, with nearly a half-million people at risk in northeastern Syria.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump cleared the way for Turkey's air and ground invasion after he announced his decision to pull American troops from their positions near the border, drawing swift bipartisan criticism that he was endangering regional stability and risking the lives of Syrian Kurdish allies who brought down the Islamic State group in Syria.
Trump had said at the time that the estimated 1,000 US troops were not in harm's way from the Turkish offensive. Rami Abdurrahman, head of the war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the US base was on a hill near the Kurdish-held town of Kobani, which had come under heavy Turkish fire.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Washington is not abandoning its Syrian Kurdish allies and pushed back hard for NATO-ally Turkey not to launch the operation. He said US troops are still working with Kurdish fighters.
The US President's decision to pull out America's troops has attracted criticism from across the world and even within the Republican ranks. Source: Getty
Despite the criticism, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country "will not take a step back" from its offensive.
"We will never stop this step. We will not stop no matter what anyone says," he said in a speech Friday.
Plumes of black smoke billowed Friday from the Syrian border town of Tal Abyad as Turkey continued bombarding the area. The Turkish Defence Ministry said the operation was progressing successfully.
Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish fighters to be terrorists linked to a Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey and says the offensive is a counterterrorism operation necessary for its own national security.
On the Syrian side, seven civilians have been killed since Wednesday, activists said.
Soldiers and military vehicles are deployed at a staging area for the Turkish Armed Forces. Source: picture alliance
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he doubted the Turkish army has enough resources to take control of prison camps in the region housing Islamic State detainees, and he fears the captured fighters "could just run away," leading to a revival of the militant group.
"We have to be aware of this and mobilise the resources of our intelligence to undercut this emerging tangible threat," Putin said during a visit to Turkmenistan.
The Syrian Kurdish forces had been holding more than 10,000 IS members, but they said they are being forced to abandon some of those positions to fight the Turkish invasion.
