Shafaq News/ The Turkish airforces conducted its first strikes in 17 months against a zone in north Syria held by Kurdish forces on Saturday night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

“A Turkish fighter jet has struck military positions of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Saida village in Ain Issa countryside... which caused loud explosions,” SOHR said.

That operation, interrupted after two accords negotiated by Ankara with first Washington, and then Moscow, allowed Turkey to seize control of a “safe zone” inside Syria around 120 kilometers long and 32 kilometers deep.

The village of Ain Issa, however, remained in the hands of Kurdish forces.

The air strikes come the same day as “violent clashes” and “intensive rocket fire” on the frontlines of Ain Issa district between SDF forces and Turkish-backed factions, the monitor said, adding there had been confirmed casualties.

“Clashes between the two sides have been going on for the last 24 hours... Turkish forces have had difficulty advancing since the SDF destroyed a Turkish tank,” the director of the SOHR, Rami Abdul Rahman, told AFP.

The Syrian Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units, which form a vital component of the SDF, are considered by Turkey to be a “terrorist offshoot” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party.