BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on Turkey’s offensive in Syria (all times local):
12:05 p.m.
Syrian Kurdish officials say Islamic-State supporters have escaped from a camp for displaced people in northeastern Syria after shells landed nearby.
Turkish forces have been advancing toward the town of Ain Eissa, some 35 kilometers (20 miles) south of the border, as part of their offensive against Kurdish-led forces. The town is home to a camp housing some 12,000 people, including nearly 1,000 foreign women with links to IS and their children. The administrative hub is also home to a U.S.-led coalition base.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Turkish warplanes struck villages near Ain Eissa camp on Sunday. It says some camp residents fled as intense clashes broke out between Turkey-backed Syrian fighters and Kurdish forces.
It was not immediately clear how many camp residents escaped. The Kurdish forces, who partnered with the U.S. to capture vast areas of eastern Syria from IS, say they may not be able to maintain detention facilities holding thousands of militants as they struggle to stem the Turkish advance.
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11:15 a.m.
Turkey’s official news agency says allied Syrian forces have captured the town Suluk in the fifth day of the Turkish offensive in northeast Syria.
Anadolu news agency said Sunday the town’s center — located at a strategic crossroads about 10 km south of the border — was cleared of Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG.
Turkey considers the group a threat for links to a decades-long Kurdish insurgency at home.
A Kurdish official on condition of anonymity said the clashes in Suluk were ongoing.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry tweeted 480 YPG fighters were “neutralized” since Wednesday. The number couldn’t be independently verified.
Several shells fired from Syria hit the Turkish border towns Akcakale and Suruc in Sanliurfa province. Anadolu news agency said one person was wounded Sunday in Suruc.