At least 16 people, including a civilian, were killed in bombings carried out by Turkish drones on several points in northern Syria, most of which belonged to the Syrian Democratic Forces and local groups affiliated with them, according to what the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights counted on Thursday.

The shelling, which has been escalating since the beginning of the week, particularly affected the areas of Tal Rifaat and Manbij in Aleppo governorate, which are under the influence of the Kurdish forces, and which Ankara has repeatedly signaled its intention to launch a military attack towards.

According to the Observatory, the dead are distributed among four members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, whose backbone are Kurdish fighters, as a result of targeting their military vehicle on a road in Al-Hasakah Governorate (northeast).

Six other members of the Manbij Military Council, which includes local fighters working under the umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Forces, were killed by shelling throughout the Manbij countryside. Four of them died, according to the Observatory, while they were working to treat two children who were also wounded by Turkish artillery shelling.

Also among the dead were five members of the regime forces, as a Turkish march bombed their point in Tal Rifaat.

A civilian working for the Kurdish Autonomous Administration was also killed in Manbij.

For its part, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced in a tweet on Thursday morning that its soldiers "continue to destroy the terrorists' dens" in Manbij and Tal Rifaat, noting that "16 terrorists have been neutralized," a designation it gives to Kurdish fighters in Syria.

The director of the Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP, Thursday, about "a significant escalation in the bombing by Turkish marches since the beginning of the week on the areas of Kurdish influence, which reached its peak on Wednesday," with the high death toll.

Last summer, Turkey intensified its bombardment by drones of targets in the areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, including points of the regime forces, which caused dozens of deaths.

The increase in the bombing rate at that time came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed at a summit with his Russian and Iranian counterparts on July 19 to obtain a green light to proceed with a military attack that he repeatedly threatened to launch against the areas of Manbij and Tal Rifaat.

The Kurdish units formed a spearhead against the Islamic State in Syria. However, Ankara, which previously launched three attacks in Syria, classifies it as a "terrorist" organization and considers it an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency against it on its soil for decades.

Ankara controls a wide border strip in Syria, 120 kilometers long. Erdogan has repeatedly announced that he seeks to establish a so-called "safe zone" 30 kilometers deep.