A teenage girl in Turkey has died after rockets were launched from Syria.
One other person was injured in Reyhanli in the latest in a string of rocket attacks on border towns since Turkey launched a cross-border operation to drive out the Syrian Kurdish militia from Afrin, northern Syria, on January 20.
Ankara considers the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to be an extension of the outlawed Kurdish rebels fighting an insurgency inside Turkey.
Turkey’s Anadolu Agency said Syrian Kurdish fighters in Afrin fired two rockets, hitting a house and a garden wall in the town of Reyhanli.
Two people were taken to hospital after the attack and one, 17-year-old Fatma Avlar, died from her wounds.
The attacks inside Turkey have so far killed four people, including Avlar. Two of the victims were Syrian refugees.
As Turkey’s military operation in Syria continues, officials in the US-led international coalition against Islamic State warned the offensive could destabilise recent gains against the extremists.
US generals in Iraq are concerned the fight in Afrin could reduce pressure on IS fighters in other parts of Syria.
Iraqi forces declared victory over IS in December, but since the Afrin offensive began, Iraq’s border guard has reported increased IS activity and attacks along their border with Syria.
If the US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces become entangled in the fighting in Afrin, that could “pull Syrian Democratic Forces out of this area”, said US Army Lt Col Brandon Payne, which could give IS more space to operate.
French president Emmanuel Macron warned Turkey against a full-scale invasion of Afrin, and appealed to his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Recep Erdogan, to respect Syria’s sovereignty.
In an interview with a French newspaper, Macron said Turkey must co-ordinate with “Europeans, and more widely between allies”, and that its operation inside Syria must be limited to fighting terror.
Turkish prime minister Binali Yildirim said that Macron had a “flawed understanding” of Turkey’s operations in Syria.
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