Iran Press/Asia: Turkish commandos pushed deeper into Syrian territory east of the Euphrates River on the second day of an offensive against Kurdish forces, Turkey's defense ministry said on Thursday.
A Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia official reported heavy clashes in the villages Turkish forces were trying to enter.
Kurdish forces said they repulsed a fresh Turkish ground attack in northeastern Syria Thursday, a day after Ankara launched a cross-border assault that has drawn international condemnation.
Turkey has said it intends to create a "safe zone" in order to return millions of refugees to Syria and bombarded targets in Kurdish-controlled areas from Wednesday.
But world powers fear the Turkish action could exacerbate the conflict, and run the risk of ISIS prisoners escaping from camps amid the chaos.
The ministry said Turkish forces had seized designated targets and the operation had continued throughout the night by land and air.
Troops entered Syria at four points, two of them close to Tal Abyad and two close to Ras al-Ain further east, according to Turkish media reports.
Turkey-backed Syrian rebel fighters were heading to the battlefronts to support Turkish troops, a spokesman for the rebels said on Thursday.
Airstrikes killed at least 8 civilians and 19 SDF fighters, while dozens of civilians were wounded.
Thousands of people have fled Ras al-Ain into other parts of SDF-held Hassakeh province.
The SDF also called on the international community to impose a no-fly zone on Syria border region.
On Thursday, the SDF said they held off another incursion attempt in the Ras al-Ain area, further east.
Our forces "confronted a field incursion attempt by the Turkish occupation army on the axis of Tal Halaf and Aluk," the SDF said in a statement.
Turkey claims that the main goal of the operation is to create a "safe zone" over an area about 30 kilometers (20 miles) deep and stretching about 120 kilometers along the border between Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad.
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