Aid reaches besieged Moadamiya al-Sham
Syrian Kurdish leader denies PYD behind Ankara blast
Salih Muslim, the leader of the main Syrian Kurdish group the Democratic Union Party (PYD) has denied that his group is behind yesterday's deadly blast in Turkey and has warned Ankara against taking Syria ground action, The Associated Press reports.
Salih Muslim told The Associated Press from his base in Europe Thursday that the Turkish accusations are "totally rejected."
He also says that the blast in Ankara that killed around 28 people is similar to bombings carried out in the past by the Islamic State group.
"We have no link to these bombings and with what is happening inside Turkey," he says.
He says that any Turkish ground action in Syria will be confronted by a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters
Syrian army says recaptures strategic town of Kansaba in Latakia countryside
The Syrian army has said that it has recaptured the strategic town of Kansaba in the northern countryside of Latakia, state news agency SANA is reporting this morning.
Turkey says Syrian gov't directly responsible for Ankara bombing
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that the Syrian government is directly responsible for the Feb. 17 bomb blast in Ankara, which killed at least 28 and injured 61.
“The YPG [People’s Protection Units] is a tool of the Syrian regime and the regime is directly responsible for this attack. The right to take all kinds of measures against the Syrian regime is reserved for us,” Davutoglu told reporters this morning, Hurriyet reports.
PYD tweets official statement denying involvement in Ankara bombing
The Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) has tweeted the official statement by the leader of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) denying involvement in yesterday's deadly bomb blast in Ankara.
Muslim said that "we do not have anything to do with the bombing in Ankara and we do not interfere in Turkey's internal affairs."
WATCH: Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces condemn Ankara bombing
The Kurdish (YPG) led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have issued a video statement condemning yesterday's deadly bombing in Ankara.
The written text of the statement shared with the video says that: "Yesterday civilians were targeted in Ankara, we in the Syrian Democratic Forces strongly condemn the targeting of unarmed civilians in Ankara, and we call on the forces that carried out this non-human action whoever they are to stop these acts of terror.We also call on the international community to intensify its efforts in the fight against terrorism and to uproot it."
U.S.-led strikes kill 15 civilians in northeast Syria: monitor
No-fly zone unlikely to help 'our war on terror' near Aleppo: Kremlin spokesman
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that the creation of a no-fly zone in northern Syria will not help combat terrorism there, RIA Novosti reports.
Peskov was responding to comments by German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said on Feb. 17 that some kind of no-fly zone could help ease the humanitarian situation in northern Aleppo province.
"The thing is that active operations are being carried out there, aimed at fighting terrorist organizations, who are also hiding out in those areas, so these sorts of things [no fly zones] would be unlikely to contribute to the effectiveness of our war on terrorism," Peskov said.
U.S.-led strikes kill 15 civilians in northeast Syria: activists
AFP has more on the reports that U.S.-led airstrikes in northeast Syria today have killed 15 civilians, including three children.
AFP is quoting the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights who say that the strikes hit four IS-controlled villages in Hasakah province.
Nine IS militants were also killed in the strikes, according to SOHR.
SOHR say that since Feb. 16, a total of 38 civilians have been killed by U.S.-led strikes on IS-controlled areas of Hasakah province including 15 in the town of Al-Shadadi on Feb. 16 and eight in an IS-controlled village on Feb. 17.
The coalition has reportedly stepped up airstrikes in Hasakah province, AFP say, amid a new operation by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces alliance in the south of the province.
MSF seeks independent enquiry into bombing of Syria hospital
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has called for an independent investigation into airstrikes that killed 25 people at an MSF-sponsored hospital in Syria's Idlib province, Reuters report.
MSF's international president Dr. Joanne Liu said that there was a probability that the airstrikes were carried out by the government-led alliance.
"We say probability because we don't have more facts than the accounts from our staff," Liu told a news briefing.
"The only thing predominantly in the region is the Syrian government-led coalition."