Syria Kurd force denies links to Ankara attack as Turkiye strikes

HASAKEH, Syria: The commander of a Kurdish-led force in Syria denied links to a deadly attack near Ankara claimed by Kurdish PKK militants, after Turkish strikes on Kurd-held Syria killed more than a dozen people in retaliation.

Turkiye carried out air strikes against targets linked to Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria after Wednesday´s shooting and suicide attack that killed five people at a defence firm near the Turkish capital. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attackers infiltrated from neighbouring Syria, vowing there would be no let-up in the fight against Kurdish militants.

“We opened an internal investigation and I can confirm that none of the attackers entered Turkiye from Syrian territory,” Mazloum Abdi, the head of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) told AFP.