Beirut, Lebanon: Turkish shelling and air strikes killed at least 20 civilians in Syria on Sunday, the fifth day of an incursion against Islamic State group jihadists and Kurdish militia, a monitor said.

‘At least 20 civilians were killed and 50 others wounded by Turkish artillery fire and air strikes on Sunday morning at Jeb el-Kussa,’ a village south of Jarabulus, said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It comes after Turkey suffered its first fatality on Saturday, blaming Kurdish militia in a fight for control of the border region.

Turkey’s government, which is fighting a Kurdish insurgency at home, has said the Syrian campaign it opened this week is as much about preventing Kurdish militia fighters from gaining territory in Syria as about pushing back Islamic State.

Turkey wants to stop Kurdish forces gaining control of a continuous stretch of Syrian territory on its frontier, which it fears could embolden the Kurdish militant group PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency on Turkish soil.

Turkish security sources said two F-16 jets bombed a site controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia, which is part of the broader US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition. The sources also said the jets hit six Islamic State targets.

Turkish military sources said one of its soldiers was killed and three others wounded when a tank was hit by a rocket that they said was fired from territory held by the Kurdish YPG. The sources said the army shelled the area in response.

Syrian rebels opposed to Ankara’s incursion said Turkish forces had targeted forces allied to the YPG and no Kurdish forces were in the area.

On the ground, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels fought forces aligned with the SDF near the frontier town of Jarablus. Forces opposed to Ankara said Turkish tanks were deployed, a charge denied by Turkey’s rebel allies.