Turkish airstrikes kill 10 civilian in Syria: Monitoring group

Turkish airstrikes in and around the Syrian town of al-Bab have killed at least 10 civilians, including a child, a monitoring group says.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that Turkish warplanes launched the airstrikes against the northern town and the nearby area of Tadif on Thursday.

Turkey, which started an incursion into Syria in August last year, is now in the middle of a military operation with the declared objective of retaking al-Bab from Daesh terrorists.

Turkish official news agency Anadolu reported on Friday that 22 Daesh terrorists had been killed in the latest round of Turkish strikes on Syria.

While Turkish officials deny that airstrikes have killed civilians, the Observatory says almost 250 civilians lost their lives and more than a thousand others sustained injuries between November 13 last year and January 15 this year as a result of Turkish artillery attacks and airstrikes against northern Syrian towns.

At least 48 Turkish soldiers have also been killed since the battle began to take al-Bab, according to an AFP tally.

On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to “finish the job” in al-Bab, but said it was not necessary for the military to push any deeper inside Syria.

SS