YPG says Turkish troops fired on it in northeast Syria

A Syrian Kurdish group says the Turkish army has fired on its members in northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli on the border with Turkey.

Redur Xelil, an official from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, also known as YPG, said that one of their members was seriously wounded in the firing on Saturday.

The incident triggered clashes between the two sides, he said, adding, “The situation is now tense,” near the Turkish border.

On Friday, the Kurdish group reported that Turkish tanks had fired dozens of shells at its positions in northwest Syria.

However, Turkey denied the report, saying that Turkish tanks shelled positions held by Daesh Takfiri terrorists not those of YPG.

Ankara accuses Syrian Kurdish group Democratic Union Party, also known as the PYD, and its military wing the YPG of having links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group that has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s.

The YPG, which is nearly in control of Syria’s entire northern border with Turkey, has been fighting against Daesh.

SS