North Syria violence kills 13 civilians

At least 13 civilians were killed during two separate incidents in the latest flare-up of violence along Syria's northern border with Türkiye, a war monitor said.

Artillery fire by the Syrian regime on the border town of Al-Bab, which is under the control of Turkish-controlled Syrian forces, killed nine civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"Children were among the victims and at least 30 others were wounded," the UK-based Observatory said, adding that the shelling originated from regime positions.

A spokesman for the Kurdish-dominated SDF denied any involvement.

The shelling struck a busy market place, where residents and first responders rushed to assist and evacuate the wounded.

Violence between Türkiye and Syria's Kurds escalated this week with a deadly Turkish strike killing 17 regime and Kurdish fighters in retaliation for Kurdish fire inside Türkiye.

The autonomous Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria said an overnight Turkish strike hit a rehabilitation centre for girls in a region near the city of Hasakah.

The Observatory said four children enrolled in the centre were killed and several others wounded.

Ankara considers the main Kurdish component of the SDF to be a terrorist organisation with organic links to the Kurdish insurgency inside its own territory.