国际英语新闻:Turkish army hits YPG fighters in northern Syria

ANKARA, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish military on Thursday hit the Kurdish fighters of People's Protection Units (YPG) with artillery fire in northern Syria, as the group ignored warnings and moved towards south of Jarablus, local media reported.

The Turkish military launched the attack late on Thursday, after entering Syrian town of Jarablus as part of the Euphrates Shield operation to back Syrian rebels expeling the Islamic State (IS) militants off the border.

The assault hit a YPG unit near the north of Manbij, another Syrian town controlled by the U.S.-allied YPG, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The Turkish forces opened fire at 6:00 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) after intelligence showed the YPG militants were advancing despite a promise by the U.S. that the Kurdish militia would retreat, Anadolu said.

The shelling by howitzers occurred near Manbij after the militants did not heed a warning from Turkish forces, cnnTurk reported.

An Turkish security official told Daily Sabah earlier that the presence of the IS or the Syrian wing of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in the Syrian town on the Turkish border was "unacceptable."

The YPG has declared in a statement on Thursday that they have pulled back from Manbij to prepare for another move on the IS, after Turkey and the U.S. warned the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) to return to the east of the Euphrates river.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held a telephone conversation with the Turkish foreign minister earlier on Thursday to discuss the withdrawal of the Syrian Kurdish forces, Turkish diplomatic sources told the Hurriyet Daily News.

"Kerry emphasized that the PYD/YPG forces have been withdrawing to the east of the Euphrates," said a senior Turkish official.

The YPG, a part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, has been a partner in the U.S.-led campaign against the IS in Syria.

Ankara has frequently voiced its concern over the YPG's activity along the Turkish border and has been rigid in its stance not allowing the PYD militant group to found any kind of de facto Kurdish state in northern Syria.

The Turkish government claims the PYD enjoys close connections with the PKK including militant and ammunition support through underground tunnels.