Turkish forces and their Syrian counterparts entered a key Kurdish town in northern Syria on Saturday (October 12th) amid heavy shelling. Ankara is determined to continue its offensive despite the international outcry and threats of US sanctions.

The Turkish Defense Ministry claimed that Turkish forces had captured Ras al-Ain, a border town of Turkey. But Kurdish forces have denied and according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (OSDH) and an AFP correspondent on the spot, Turkish soldiers and their allies have entered but the fighting continues.

Neighboring Syria at war, Turkey wants to drive the Syrian Kurdish militia from the People's Protection Units (YPG), which it calls "terrorist", to the border areas and establish a "security zone" 32 km deep. in Syrian territory to separate its border from areas controlled by the YPG.

Since the beginning of the attack on Wednesday, 74 Kurdish fighters and 30 civilians have been killed according to a final assessment of the OSDH, and 100,000 people have been displaced, according to the UN. Ankara announced the death of four soldiers in Syria and 18 civilians in the fall of dozens of Kurdish rockets fired at border towns in Turkey.

Under a barrage of heavy artillery and Turkish air raids, Turkish forces and their local allies launched an assault on Ras Al-Ain in the morning from three axes, almost entirely deserted by its inhabitants, according to the report. OSDH.

Sign of the intensity of violence, 20 Kurdish fighters were killed in the night, while 10 civilians died Saturday, according to the NGO.

Kurds have lost 23 villages

According to an official of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), whose YPG is the backbone, "Ras al-Ain is still resisting and clashes continue". "The SDS have partially retreated due to heavy shelling but have launched a counter-attack."

According to the OSDH and an AFP correspondent on site, the Turkish forces and their allies conquered an industrial area on the outskirts of Ras al-Ain.

In total, since Wednesday, the Kurds have lost 23 villages.

In the wake of the Syrian conflict, the Kurds established de facto autonomy over the vast areas under their control in the North.

Supported by the West, mainly by the United States, the SDF is the spearhead in Syria of the fight against the Islamic State Organization (IEO) defeated in March with the loss of its last stronghold in the country.

US soldiers have been deployed in areas of Syria to assist the FDS in the anti-jihadist struggle.

On Monday, the withdrawal of dozens of US soldiers near the border seemed to leave the field open to attack and was perceived as treason by the Kurds.

Warning Against Another Humanitarian Disaster

But the United States, Turkey's allies in NATO, then blew hot and cold.

On Friday, they said President Donald Trump would sign a decree allowing sanctions against Turkey at any time.

NGOs have warned of a new humanitarian disaster in Syria where the war, which has become more complex with the intervention of multiple regional and international actors, has claimed more than 370,000 lives since 2011 and displaced millions of people.

Several countries are worried about the fate of the members of the IEO in the hands of the Kurds.

Turkey, which has led two offensives in northern Syria in 2016 and 2018, wants to install in a future "safe zone" part of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees living on its soil.

With AFP