Kurdish-led SDF denies Turkey's capture of Syrian town center

"Now the SDF's attack has started and there are very fierce clashes now," Marvan Qamishlo, an SDF military media official told Reuters.

Smoke rises over the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, Turkey, October 11, 2019 (photo credit: REUTERS/KEMAL ASLAN)
Smoke rises over the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, Turkey, October 11, 2019
(photo credit: REUTERS/KEMAL ASLAN)
BEIRUT - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied that Turkish-backed forces had taken control of the center of Ras al Ain on Saturday after a senior Turkish security official said the town center had been seized.
Marvan Qamishlo, an SDF military media official, said Turkish-backed forces had entered one neighborhood of Ras al Ain, the industrial district, following hours of heavy Turkish shelling that had forced a "tactical retreat" from that area.
"Now the SDF's attack has started and there are very fierce clashes now," he told Reuters. "The clashes are continuing in the industrial district," he said, saying this was the part of Ras al Ain closest to the Turkish border.