[[{"content_id":335699,"content_number":0,"portal_id":2,"lang_id":"en","content_title":"Eight children among 11 killed in Turkish shelling on Syria's Aleppo: Observatory","content_rtitr":"","content_short_title":null,"content_summary":"Turkish military forces have claimed the lives of at least 11 civilians, including eight children, in an artillery attack that struck near a school in the northwestern Syrian province of Aleppo.","content_summary_fill":1,"content_body":"As Reported by Qods News Agency (Qodsna) The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Monday that the shelling took place in the Kurdish-held town of Tal Rifaat as students were leaving the building and left 21 others injured.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nRami Abdel Rahman, the Observatory head, said most of those killed in the attack had been displaced from the Syria&#39;s northwestern region of Afrin, which was captured last year by Turkish troops.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThe strategic town of Tal Rifaat is located 20 kilometers south of Turkey&#39;s border and has been the scene of regular confrontations between Turkish-backed forces and Kurdish militants from the so-called People&#39;s Protection Units (YPG).\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nAnkara threatened last year to launch a cross-border offensive to capture Tal Rifaat after taking Afrin from the US-backed YPG militants.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nRussia agreed in October to work with Turkey to remove YPG &quot;elements and their weapons&quot; from Tal Rifaat, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said&nbsp;in early November that Kurdish &quot;terror groups&quot; had still not left.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nTurkey regards the YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers&rsquo; Party (PKK) militant group, which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in the Anatolian country since 1984.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nTurkish army forces on October 9&nbsp;launched a cross-border offensive&nbsp;into northeastern Syria in a declared attempt to clear YPG militants from a 32-kilometer &ldquo;safe zone&rdquo; in border areas.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThirteen days into the operation, Turkey and Russia&nbsp;reached an agreement under which YPG militants would pull back 30 kilometers south of Turkey&rsquo;s border with Syria, and security forces from Turkey and Russia would carry out joint patrols\r\n\r\nin the area to prevent the militants from reemerging there.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThe Kurdish-led administration in northeastern Syria says the Turkish offensive has killed 218 civilians, including 18 children, since its outset. The fighting has also wounded more than 650 people.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThe Syrian government has strongly condemned the Turkish offensive as an act of aggression.","content_html":"<p>As Reported by Qods News Agency (Qodsna) The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Monday that the shelling took place in the Kurdish-held town of Tal Rifaat as students were leaving the building and left 21 others injured.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Rami Abdel Rahman, the Observatory head, said most of those killed in the attack had been displaced from the Syria&#39;s northwestern region of Afrin, which was captured last year by Turkish troops.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The strategic town of Tal Rifaat is located 20 kilometers south of Turkey&#39;s border and has been the scene of regular confrontations between Turkish-backed forces and Kurdish militants from the so-called People&#39;s Protection Units (YPG).<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Ankara threatened last year to launch a cross-border offensive to capture Tal Rifaat after taking Afrin from the US-backed YPG militants.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Russia agreed in October to work with Turkey to remove YPG &quot;elements and their weapons&quot; from Tal Rifaat, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said&nbsp;in early November that Kurdish &quot;terror groups&quot; had still not left.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers&rsquo; Party (PKK) militant group, which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in the Anatolian country since 1984.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Turkish army forces on October 9&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.presstv.com\/Detail\/2019\/10\/09\/608266\/Turkey-launches-military-invasion-into-northeastern-Syria-against-YPG-forces-\">launched a cross-border offensive&nbsp;<\/a>into northeastern Syria in a declared attempt to clear YPG militants from a 32-kilometer &ldquo;safe zone&rdquo; in border areas.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Thirteen days into the operation, Turkey and Russia&nbsp;reached an agreement under which YPG militants would pull back 30 kilometers south of Turkey&rsquo;s border with Syria, and security forces from Turkey and Russia would carry out joint patrols<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>in the area to prevent the militants from reemerging there.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Kurdish-led administration in northeastern Syria says the Turkish offensive has killed 218 civilians, including 18 children, since its outset. The fighting has also wounded more than 650 people.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Syrian government has strongly condemned the Turkish offensive as an act of aggression.<\/p>","content_source":"","content_url":"","content_date_start":"2019-12-03 09:55:33","content_date_event":"2019-12-03 09:55:33","content_date_event_start":null,"content_date_event_end":null,"content_show_title_slider":1,"content_date_last_edit":"2019-12-03 09:56:58","content_date_register":"2019-12-03 09:56:58","content_columns":0,"content_show_img":1,"content_show_details":0,"content_show_related_img":0,"content_show_slider":1,"content_comment":1,"content_score":0,"tag_id":0,"score_average":null,"score_count":null,"score_date_last":null,"uid":30,"eid":0,"attach_title":"Eight children among 11 killed in Turkish shelling on Syria's Aleppo: Observatory\n 2","attaches":[{"sizes":{"150":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/201912\/464309_1953106188_150_84.webp","300":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/201912\/464309_1953106188_300_168.webp","400":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/201912\/464309_1953106188_400_225.webp","600":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/201912\/464309_1953106188_600_337.webp","900":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/201912\/464309_1953106188_650_365.jpg","1200":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/201912\/464309_1953106188_650_365.jpg"},"ext":"jpg","file_media":1,"token":1953106188,"files":{"original":{"url":".\/file\/2\/attach\/201912\/464309_1953106188.jpg","width":650,"height":365,"size":0}}}]}]]