MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Saturday, Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkish forces shelled Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) positions in northern Syria as a retaliatory measure within rules of engagement. Ankara claims that Syrian Kurds have links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a militant group fighting for Kurdish independence from Turkey. The shelling continued into Monday.
"Whenever the Syrian army advances, when it wins, it certainly causes rage in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. That is why Turkey began shelling the bordering Syrian territory, airports. It continues airstrikes and heavy artillery fire," Haddad said in an interview with Rossiya 24 television.
Since 2011, Syria has been mired in a civil war with forces loyal to Assad fighting a number of opposition factions and extremist groups.
On Sunday, a military source told RIA Novosti that following attack on YPG positions, Turkish armed forces shelled Syrian army positions in the northern Syrian province of Latakia.
Syria's Foreign Ministry has said that shelling of the northern Syria by the Turkish military represents a direct support of the terrorists and called on the United Nations to take measures to "put an end to the crimes of the Turkish regime."
