Heavy clashes underway on Turkey-Syria border Turkish troops cross Syrian border east of the Euphrates River as UN expresses ‘alarm’ over Ankara’s military push.

Turkish army tanks fire artillery shells as Turkish troops begin Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria. HANDOUT/TURKISH NATIONAL DEFENCE MINISTRY/ANADOLU

Turkey has launched a major military operation in northeast Syria.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the offensive – which began with air raids on Tuesday – is aimed at removing Kurdish-led forces from the border area and creating a “safe zone” so millions of Syrian refugees can be returned.

More:

• Look: Turkey’s operation in Syria

• Two notorious ISIL fighters taken into US custody

• Does anybody think Turkey’s operation is a good idea?

The move came after the United States announced it was withdrawing its troops from the region, leaving the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), its main ally in the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) armed group, without US military support.

The SDF, led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), has appealed to the US and its allies for a “no-fly zone” to protect it from Turkish air attacks. Turkey considers the YPG a “terrorist” group.

Here are the latest upded.

Thursday, October 10

Italian FM: Turkish operation in Syria is “unacceptable”

Turkey’s offensive against Kurdish forces in Syria is “unacceptable”, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Thursday, calling for an immediate end to the fighting.

“As a government we think that the Turkish offensive initiative is unacceptable. We condemn it … because military action in the past has always led to more terrorism,” Di Maio, who is head of the co-ruling 5-Star Movement, said on the sidelines of a conference in Rome.

“We call for an immediate end to this offensive which is absolutely not acceptable given that the use of force continues to endanger the life of the Syrian people, who have already experienced tragedy in recent years,” he said.

Turkey-backed Syrian rebels heading to fight SDF: spokesman

Turkey-backed Syrian rebel fighters are on their way to battle fronts in northeastern Syria in support of Turkish troops who have crossed the countries’ border, a spokesman for the rebels said on Thursday.

Kurdish-led SDF forces are dug in the area, Major Youssef Hamoud said.

The fighters of the Syrian opposition National Army are moving towards the two main towns in the area, Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ain, he said.

Hamoud denied SDF reports that clashes were raging between the Turkish army and SDF forces on the outskirts of Tel Abyad.

Heavy clashes under way in border villages: SDF

Heavy clashes are under way in Syrian border villages between advancing Turkish forces and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) soldiers, an official in the Kurdish-led SDF said on Thursday.

“Fierce clashes are continuing in the villages that (Turkish forces) are trying to enter,” said Marvan Qamishlo, an SDF media official.

Turkey targeted prison holding ISIL fighters: Syrian-Kurdish authorities

The Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria accused Turkey of shelling a prison holding ISIL fighters of more than 60 nationalities, calling this “a clear attempt” to help them escape.

There was no immediate comment from Turkey.

The shelling on Wednesday night targeted part of Chirkin prison in the city of Qamishli, the Kurdish-led authorities said in a statement.

“These attacks on prisons holding Daesh terrorists will lead to a catastrophe the consequences of which the world may not be able to handle later on,” the statement said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL.

The statement did not give further details.

SDF says it stopped advancing Turkish military

A Kurdish-led group and Syrian activists claimed that despite the heavy barrage, Turkish troops had not made much progress on several fronts they had opened over the past hours.

But their claims could not be independently verified and the situation on the ground was difficult to assess.

Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said their fighters have repelled Turkish forces ground attacks.

“No advance as of now,” he tweeted Thursday.

Turkey using ‘air power’ to advance through border

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said the Turkish military is using air raids as well as artillery

bombardment to target the defences of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), mainly along the border.

“We still don’t know how much of an advance Turkish soldiers and their local allies – the opposition [Free Syrian Army] – have made, but according to officials and defence ministry sources, the operation is moving ahead smoothly,” Khodr said, speaking from the Turkish border town of Akcakale.

The SDF, Khodr explained, are out-numbered and out-gunned, and the flat terrain will make it easy for the Turkish army to advance. The first phase of the operation is concentrated on the 100-kilometre stretch of territory between two Syrian border towns: Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain.

Turkey’s Defence Ministry shared a brief video of its commandos in action, and said Turkish jets and artillery had struck 181 targets east of the Euphrates River in Syria since the operation began.