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Clashes between Turkish, Syrian troops reported in northern Syria

According to media reports, the clashes were reported in the village of Tall Ward located on the Turkish border southeast of Ras al-Ayn

MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/. Clashes between Syrian government forces on the one side and Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters on the other side have taken place near the Syrian city of Ras al-Ayn, the Alikhbaria TV channel reported.

According to the TV channel, the clashes were reported in the village of Tall Ward located on the Turkish border southeast of Ras al-Ayn.

The TV channel also said that Turkish troops and pro-Turkish units are carrying out an offensive on the Abu Rasin settlement east of Ras al-Ayn. Media reports claim that residential areas in Abu Rasin are under fire.

On October 9, Turkey launched a military incursion into northern Syria, codenaming it Operation Peace Spring, with the Turkish Armed Forces and the Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army carrying it out. The Erdogan government claimed that its goal was to clear the border area of what it calls ‘terrorists’ (Turkey’s broad label of the Kurdish forces) and establish a 30 km-long buffer zone in Syria’s north, where over 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey would resettle.

On October 13, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said that in accordance with an agreement with the Kurds, Damascus had sent troops to northern Syria to confront the Turkish army. Syrian government forces seized a number of towns and settlements in the Kurdish-populated areas in the next few days, including Tabqah, Manbij, Raqqa and Kobane. On October 17, Syrian troops reached the border with Turkey.