Kurdish Leader Accuses Turkey Of Using Phosphorous During Northern Syria Offensive

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th October, 2019) Ilham Akhmed, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) co-president, said during a hearing in the US Congress, that Turkey used phosphorus against civilians during its operation against Kurdish-led forces in the north of Syria.

Earlier this week, Akhmed held talks with US senators who advocated a bill imposing sanctions on Turkey over its operation in Syria. Moreover, Akhmed participated in the hearing on the US policy in Syria on Wednesday.

During the hearing, Akhmed said, as quoted by the Rudaw news outlet, that the SDC, which is a political wing of the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), had no capabilities for carrying out an expertise of the chemicals used by Turkey.

Ankara's Operation Peace Spring forced 300,000 people to flee their homes, while 250 people, the majority of whom are children, were killed and 300 people remain missing, according to the SDC co-president.

Moreover, Akhmed insisted that the operation resulted in several members of the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia) fleeing jails. There are six French citizens and two Belgian nationals among them, according to Akhmed.

The Kurdish authorities in the north of Syria have claimed that Turkey used prohibited white phosphorus and napalm during the Operation Peace Spring, which was launched on October 9.

Last week, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar refuted the claims and accused the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), linked to the SDF, of using such weapons with the aim of provocations.