The Russian ceasefire monitoring center near Latakia says it is verifying reports of an attack on the Kurdish town Tell Abyad in northern Syria carried out by militants coming from Turkey.
The reports came overnight and claim that the forces coming from Turkey are using heavy artillery, according to Lt. Gen. Sergey Kuralenko, who heads the center for Syrian reconciliation.
The US is now targeting Turkish-backed militants in Syria
“This information was verified though multiple channels, including representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), [a rebel alliance that includes Kurds, Arabs and other ethnic groups and operates in the region],” he said.
Islamic State militants launched an assault on a Kurdish-controlled town on Syria's border with Turkey on Saturday, prompting air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition to try to drive them back.
The hardline Sunni fighters attacked Tel Abyad, which is controlled by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, and the nearby town of Suluk in the early hours of Saturday, YPG spokesman Redur Xelil and Turkish security sources told Reuters.
Here's a map of the battlefield. The blue bombs represent US airstrikes against the militants that crossed the border from Turkey.
The US airstrikes might have actually come at the urging of Russia. As SkyNews reports:
[T]he northern Syrian town of Tel Abyad has come under attack from Turkish territory.
Russia contacted the US co-ordination centre in Amman, which is monitoring the break in fighting, after the attack was recorded by the Russian co-ordination centre in Syria, the Interfax news agency reported.
Is this real life? Is the US teaming up with Russia to fight Turkey?
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