Turkish shelling and air strikeskilled at least 40 Syrians today, a monitor said, in the firstsignificant civilian casualties in Turkey's intensifyingcampaign in northern Syria.
Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said the army hadkilled 25 Kurdish "terrorists" in air strikes as part of itsunprecedented operation inside Syria.
The bombardments came after Ankara suffered its firstmilitary fatality since it launched the two-pronged offensiveagainst the Islamic State group and Syrian Kurdish militiainside Syria on Wednesday.
At least 20 civilians were killed and 50 wounded inTurkish artillery fire and air strikes on the village of Jebel-Kussa early today, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rightsmonitoring group said.
Another 20 were killed and 25 wounded, many seriously, inTurkish air strikes near the town of Al-Amarneh, it said.
The monitor also said at least four Kurdish fighters hadbeen killed and 15 injured in Turkish bombardment of the twoareas.
A spokesman for the local Kurdish administration said 75people had been killed in both villages.
The Britain-based Observatory said the bombardmenttargeted an area south of the former IS border stronghold ofJarabulus, which Turkish-led forces captured on the first dayof the incursion.
Fighting has since intensified south of the town, whereclashes erupted between Turkish troops and forces belonging tothe Kurdish Democratic Union (PYD) party, which Ankaraconsiders a terrorist group linked with Kurdish militants inTurkey.
US-backed Kurdish forces have also been fighting IS inSyria but Turkey fiercely opposes any move by Kurds to expandinto territory lost by the jihadists.
The latest fighting is likely to raise deep concerns forTurkey's NATO ally the United States, which supports theKurdish militia -- known as the People's Protection Units(YPG) -- as an effective fighting force against IS.
The Turkish soldier was killed and three more woundedyesterday in a rocket attack by Kurdish militia on two tankstaking part in an offensive against the pro-Kurdish forcessouth of Jarabulus.
Turkish media named the dead soldier as Ercan Celik, 28,and said a funeral for him would be held in Gaziantep.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was due to visit the cityto express condolences for last weekend's suicide bombingthere at a Kurdish wedding that left 54 dead. Turkey's NTV television reported that Turkish artilleryhad struck YPG targets throughout the night and that Turkishwarplanes had carried out new bombing sorties this morning.
Turkish forces carried out their first air strikes onpro-Kurdish positions yesterday as part of what Ankara iscalling "Operation Euphrates Shield".
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