THE Turkish military campaign against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began Monday night in northeastern Syria, Syria’s state TV reported, branding the military operation as a “Turkish aggression.”

The Turkish attack targeted the SDF-held Tal Tawil area in the northeastern countryside of Hasakah province in northeastern Syria, said the report.

The attack came as Turkey has been threatening recently to start a military operation in northeastern Syria against the Kurdish-led groups, which it deems as terrorist groups.

It’s not yet clear whether the attack is a fully fledged one or just a limited one.

Meanwhile, the TV aired some footage purporting to show night shelling by Turkish forces on the aforementioned area.

It said there are no human losses from the Turkish attack.

It’s worth noting that the Syrian state media outlets have been branding the SDF as a “separatist Kurdish movement” as this group and its broader umbrella of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) control areas in northern and northeastern Syria with the backing of the United States.

Earlier in the day, the United States pulled out forces from observation points in northeastern Syria along the borderline with Turkey amid threats by Ankara to launch a military campaign against the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The U.S. withdrew forces from observation posts at Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ain in northeastern Syria.

On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unleashed his strongest warning yet, threatening to launch a military operation against the U.S.-backed Kurdish militia groups in northeastern Syria.

In August, the U.S. and Turkey agreed to have joint patrols into designated Kurdish areas near the Turkish border as a prelude to imposing a safe zone.

In his speech Saturday, Erdogan said the deal with the U.S. to secure the border with Turkey was faltering.

(Xinhua)