Turkey accused of using ‘illegal NAPALM’ against ‘CIVILIAN’ targets in Syria

Last weekend Turkish ground forces pushed into northern Syria’s Afrin province after Turkey launched artillery and air strikes against the YPG – which Ankara considers a terror group.

Syrian-Kurdish politician Îlham Ehmed, who is co-chairperson of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) – a secular, non-Islamist opposition in Syria – accused Turkey of using the “forbidden” weapon against civilians.

Writing on Twitter, she said: “The Turkish army uses the forbidden weapon napalm in Afrin against civilians.”

International law does not specifically prohibit the use of napalm against military targets, but its use against civilian populations is banned, according to the United Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.

The violent clashes continue with heavy artillery and aerial shelling on areas controlled by Kurdish forces in the western and southern countryside of Afrin.

Turkish forces shelled areas in the Rajo district, the northern countryside of Afrin and Kafri Kar.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the number of fighters killed has increased to 59 from the YPG and Self-Defence forces.

The human rights organisation also reports seven Turkish soldiers have been killed along with 69 others from the rebel and Islamic factions operating within the “Operation Olive Branch”.

Operation Olive Branch is the codename for the Turkish military action.

The operation risks further increasing tensions with Turkey’s NATO ally the United States, which has supported the YPG in the fight against Islamic State jihadists.

Mr Le Drian said France had asked Turkey to act with restraint in Syria after speaking by phone with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

He added: “France calls on Turkish authorities to act with restraint in a difficult context, with the humanitarian situation deteriorating in several regions of Syria as a consequence of the military actions of the Damascus regime and its allies.”

French President Emmanuel Macron told Recep Tayyip Erdogan of his worries about the country’s military offensive.

Mr Macron’s office said in a statement: “Taking into account Turkey’s security needs, the president expressed to his Turkish counterpart his concerns following the military intervention launched in Afrin.”