The Turkish operation also aims to create a safe zone in northern Syria to resettle millions of Syrian refugees.

It came after the withdrawal of the U.S. forces from northern Syria, which was seen as a sign of abandoning the Kurdish forces that are considered as Washington's allies in fighting the Islamic State militants in Syria.

Syrian Foreign Ministry has issued two statements since the beginning of the Turkish operation, accusing Ankara of targeting residential areas and causing deaths of civilians while holding the Kurdish forces responsible for the Turkish military incursion.

The Kurdish forces had been advised to accept the entry of the Syrian forces and government institutions to the Kurdish-held areas in northern and northeastern Syria to strip Ankara of its pretext to launch a military assault in the northern region.

Earlier in the day, state news agency SANA reported that the Turkish army and allied Syrian rebel groups captured several areas in the countryside of Hasakah province in northeastern Syria and the countryside of the northern Raqqa province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier that the number of civilians who fled the battle zones in the area exceeded 100,000, warning that the situation there could be "fully catastrophic."

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