Turkey’s Syria incursion displaces over 300,000: Monitor

Turkey's offensive against Kurdish-controlled areas of northeastern Syria has displaced over 300,000 people, a report says.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that the rise in the number of people forced to flee was due to a fresh wave of displacement over the past few days from areas around Tal Abyad and Kobane and in Hasakeh province.

He said that most displaced people tried to move in with relatives in safer areas, some were sleeping rough in orchards and others in some of the 40 schools that have been turned into emergency shelters.

On Thursday, the ninth day of the onslaught, Turkish forces heavily pounded areas in the border town of Ras al-Ayn. The UK-based group also said that Turkish forces had taken control of half of the Kurdish town.

"There have been intensive airstrikes on Ras al-Ain over the past three days," Abdel Rahman said.

In the meantime, Syrian government forces are expanding their presence in the northern cities to prevent the Turkish army from gaining ground. The troops have entered several cities and towns which used to be under the control of the Kurds, sending a wave of delight across the region.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that Germany would not deliver any weapons to Turkey under current circumstances, adding that she had urged Turkey several times to end its military offensive in northern Syria.

"In recent days I have strongly urged Turkey ... to end its military operation against the Kurdish military and I'm stressing that again now," Merkel told Germany's lower house of parliament.

"It's a humanitarian drama with huge geopolitical effects so Germany will not deliver any weapons to Turkey under the current conditions," she added.

SS