20 killed in fresh Syrian-Turkish fighting in Syria

Damascus, Aug 20 (IANS) At least 20 people, including children, have been killed and more than 50 others injured in a fresh round of fighting between Syria and the Turkish-backed militia in northern Syria, a war monitor said.A total of 14 civilians, including five children, were killed and 38 others injured in a Syrian shelling on al-Bab, a city controlled by Turkish-backed rebels in the northern province of Aleppo on Friday, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Friday.The observatory added that shells fell on a crowded market and residential districts in al-Bab, Xinhua news agency reported.Meanwhile, four underage girls were killed and 11 other people injured in a rehabilitation centre under a Turkish drone attack on the Kurdish-controlled village of Shmokeh in Hasakah province, it said.On Thursday, a similar Turkish attack targeting a factory, held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) backed by the Syrian army, led to the killing of two people and injury of three others, said the war monitor.Since May, Turkey has been threatening a military incursion into parts of northern Syria held by Kurdish-led forces, inflaming the situation in the area with recent intensified shelling on Kurdish and Syrian military sites.The Syrian army vowed on Wednesday to act in immediate and direct retaliation for any Turkish attack on Syrian military bases.Turkey wants to create a buffer zone along its border with Syria to clear the Kurdish militants, which Ankara deems terrorists, from the region.Iran and Russia have been mediating between Syria and Turkey to defuse their tension and broker an understanding.--IANs
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