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. In a complicating twist, Washington said its troops also came under fire from NATO ally Turkey.
No US troops were hurt in Friday’s explosion at the small US outpost, and the artillery strike marked the first time a coalition base was in the line of fire since Turkey’s offensive began.
US officials said the Americans have vacated the post on a hill outside the town of Kobani, and added that a large base in the town was not affected by the shelling. The officials spoke anonymously because they were discussing an ongoing military operation.
Turkey said the US was not targeted and its forces were returning fire from Kurdish fighters about half a mile from the US outpost. The Turkish Defense Ministry said it ended the strike after communicating with the US.
Navy Capt. Brook DeWalt, a Pentagon spokesman, said the explosion came within a few hundred meters of the area where US troops were.
The artillery strike so close to American forces showed the unpredictable nature of the conflict days after US President Donald Trump cleared the way for Turkey’s air and ground invasion, pulling back US forces from the area and saying he wanted to stop getting involved with “endless wars.”
The decision drew 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.
Earlier, 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 kilometers (7 miles) from the frontier was evacuated after artillery shells landed nearby.
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 center 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.
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