Two journalists killed in north Syria by 'Turkish drone'

By AFP

Two journalists from Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast have been killed, reportedly by a Turkish drone, while covering clashes between an Ankara-backed militia and US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria, journalists' groups said Friday.

Nazim Dastan, 32, and Cihan Bilgin, 29, were killed on Thursday near the Tishrin dam east of Aleppo when their car was hit, the Dicle Firat Journalists' Association said.

"We condemn this attack on our colleagues and demand accountability," it said.

The pair worked for Syrian Kurdish media outlets Rojnews and the Anha news agency.

The Turkish Journalists Union also condemned the attack, saying they were "allegedly targeted by a Turkish UAV", the technical name for a drone.

"We condemn the attack. Journalists cannot be subjected to attack while performing a sacred duty.

"Those responsible must be found and tried," the union's branch in the southeastern Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir said.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two journalists had been killed in Aleppo province by a "Turkish drone strike".

The pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency also blamed a Turkish drone.

The Turkish army insists it never targets civilians but only terror groups.

Police nab 10 protesting journalists

Several hours later, about 200 people held a protest in the eastern city of Van which was broken up by police, who arrested 55 people, 10 of them journalists, eyewitnesses and the local journalists' association said.

The incident comes amid mounting concerns over a possible Turkish assault on the Kurdish-held Syrian border town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab.

Ankara is hoping Syria's new Islamist HTS rulers will take steps to address the issue of Kurdish fighters in the north.

"If they address this issue properly, there would be no reason for us to intervene," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said this week.

Turkey pushed for Assad's ouster when the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011 with the violent suppression of peaceful protesters.

But after backing various opposition groups, Turkey recently shifted its focus to blocking the establishment of a so-called "terror corridor" along its borders in areas controlled by the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

A Turkish defence ministry source said Thursday Ankara would push ahead with its military preparations until Kurdish fighters "disarm", stressing the ongoing threat along its border with Syria.