YPG responding to Erdogan’s statements: it is not of our principles to target civilians

Shafaq News/ The People's Protection Units (YPG) denied on Monday the Turkish President’s accusations of being involved in the missile attack on the city of Afrin, northern Syria.

Erdogan said, on Sunday, "the terrorist attack on Al-Shifaa Hospital in the city of Afrin demonstrated again the brutality and treachery of the People's Protection Units."

For her part, The Turkish Ministry of Defense accused YPG in the Tel Rifaat area of being behind the attack.

"As we are used to, Turkish President Erdogan hastened to accuse our forces of carrying out the bombing," Nuri Mahmoud, the YPG official spokesperson said in a statement.

He added, "We condemn this act...it is not of our principles to target civilians," noting that "a government that practices terrorism at home and abroad, especially in Syria, such as the Turkish government, has no right to stigmatizing others as terrorists."

Mahmoud confirmed that "protecting civilians was and will remain a priority for our forces in all battles."

At least 16 people, including 11 civilians, were killed, on Saturday, in artillery shelling on the Kurdish-held city of Afrin.

A doctor, three hospital employees, three women and a child, are among the dead.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the U.S.-backed forces spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG, later said it was not responsible for the attack.

The SDF commander-in-chief, Mazloum Abdi said on Twitter, "We deny the responsibility or involvement of our forces in the tragic attack on a hospital in Afrin.”

"We are deeply sad by the loss of innocent lives, and we condemn the attack, targeting hospitals is a violation of international law," he added.

It is noteworthy that the People's Protection Units (YPG) is the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main ally of the international coalition forces led by the United States against ISIS in Syria, and it is the military arm of the Democratic Union Party, which leads the Autonomous Administration in northern and eastern Syria.

Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist group tied to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) inside its own borders, and has staged incursions into Syria in support of Syrian rebels to push it from the Turkish frontier.

Ankara now retains a large military presence in the area deploying thousands of troops in the last rebel enclave.