Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants clashed with Kurdish YPG militants from a U.S.-backed alliance in northwestern Syria on Monday, Reuters reported.
The clashes took place around the village of Ain Daqna and the nearby Menagh air base north of Aleppo, while Turkish forces stepped up shelling positions in other areas, the officials and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "There are big clashes happening on the Ain Daqna axis, between us and the Turks and their mercenaries," Rojhat Roj, a spokesman for the Kurdish YPG militant said.
Mostafa Bali of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish and Arab force which is dominated by the YPG, said some Turkish-backed rebels had been killed and captured.
The British-based Observatory, which monitors the war using sources on the ground, said the clashes and shelling were an attempt by the Turkish side to advance.
FSA said this month they were preparing to join the Turkish military in a major new offensive against Kurdish forces in northwestern Syria.
Turkey has criticised the U.S. decision to arm the YPG in its fight against Islamic State in Syria.
