Blasts hit Ras Al-Ain town as Turkey launches operation in northeast Syria

Several large blasts hit the northeast Syrian town of Ras Al-Ain on Wednesday, on the border across from the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar, a CNN Turk reporter said, adding that the sound of planes could be heard above.

Six rockets were also fired from Syria towards a Turkish border town. According to Anadolu news agency, the rockets were fired from Qamishli towards the center of the Turkish border town of Nusaybin.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) appealed to the United States and its allies on Wednesday for a "no-fly zone" to protect it from Turkish attacks in northeast Syria.

"The SDF showed good faith to the security mechanism agreement between the U.S. and Turkey. This left our people defenseless," it said. Civilian casualties also occured in the border attack, AFP news agency reported citing Syria Kurds.

As the blasts occurred, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a tweet that Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies had launched its planned military operation in northeast Syria, adding that the offensive aimed to eliminate a "terror corridor" along the southern Turkish border.

Erdogan said the offensive, dubbed "Operation Peace Spring", would aim to eliminate threats from the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and the Islamic State militants and enable the return of Syrian refugees in Turkey after the formation of a "safe zone" in the area.

"Our mission is to prevent the creation of a terror corridor across our southern border, and to bring peace to the area," Erdogan said on Twitter. "We will preserve Syria's territorial integrity and liberate local communities from terrorists."

The Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Syrian National Army, just launched #OperationPeaceSpring against PKK/YPG and Daesh terrorists in northern Syria. Our mission is to prevent the creation of a terror corridor across our southern border, and to bring peace to the area.

— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) October 9, 2019

Meanwhile, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Turkish warplanes struck its region in the northeast, sparking "huge panic among people" on Wednesday.

"Turkish warplanes have started to carry out airstrikes on civilian areas," SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said on Twitter. Syrian state media and a Kurdish official separately said bombing hit the town of Ras al-Ain in the northeast along the Turkish border.