Syrian Kurds Report Turkey's Use of 'Toxic Gas' in Attack on Afrin Village

Syrian Kurdish forces and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced on Friday, February 16, that Turkish army forces used a type of toxic gas against Kurdish positions in a village in northern Afrin. According to reports, six people were injured in this attack. The Turkish army has not yet responded to these reports, but Turkey has previously denied any attacks on civilians. Birusk Hasaka, a spokesperson for the People's Protection Units, told Reuters that Turkish forces bombed a village in northern Afrin near the Turkish border, resulting in six injuries. He added that the injured individuals exhibited respiratory problems and other symptoms consistent with toxic gas attacks. The Syrian state news agency SANA also reported, citing a doctor in Afrin, that the bombing of a village by Turkey caused six people to suffer from asphyxiation. Turkey launched an operation named 'Olive Branch' against the People's Protection Units in the Afrin region of northern Syria last month, a militia force that Ankara considers a terrorist organization and part of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), with which it has been in conflict for over 30 years. Meanwhile, the U.S. supports the People's Protection Units in the fight against the so-called Islamic State (ISIS), which has angered Ankara. U.S.-Turkey relations have been strained over various issues in recent years, but Turkey's military operations against Syrian Kurdish militants, who are supported by the U.S.-led coalition, have escalated these tensions. The U.S. has called for Turkey to exercise 'restraint' since the beginning of the operation, warning that the military action will exacerbate the existing crisis. Turkey is concerned that the empowerment of Syrian Kurds may increase the likelihood of an independent Kurdish state forming along its southern borders.