Syria Kurd force denies links to Ankara attack as Turkey strikes

The commander of a Kurdish-led force in Syria denied links to a deadly attack near Ankara claimed by Kurdish PKK militants, after Turkish strikes on Kurd-held Syria killed more than a dozen people in retaliation.

Turkey carried out air strikes against targets linked to Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria after Wednesday's shooting and suicide attack that killed five people at a defence firm near the Turkish capital. Turkish President Erdogan said the attackers infiltrated from neighbouring Syria, vowing there would be no let-up in the fight against Kurdish militants.

"We have no connection to this attack that took place in Ankara," the head of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said late Saturday from Hasakeh, a major city run by the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in northeast Syria. "Our battlefields are inside Syrian territory," he added.