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The Kurdish-backed Syria Democratic Forces have taken control of around 70 percent of Tal Rifaat, a town between Aleppo city and Azaz near the Turkish border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights conflict monitor said on Monday.

A major offensive against Syrian rebels, supported by Russian bombing and Iranian-backed forces, has brought the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey’s border and Kurdish-backed forces have exploited the situation, seizing ground from Syrian rebels to extend its presence along the frontier.

As Moscow blasts Ankara’s “provocative” shelling of Kurds in Syria, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday that Turkey will not allow the Syrian town of Azaz just across from the Turkish border fall under the control of Syrian Kurdish fighters.

“We will not let Azaz fall. The YPG (the People’s Protection Units, a Syrian Kurdish militia) will not be able to cross to the west of the Euphrates (River) and east of Afrin,” Davutoglu was quoted as saying by the private NTV television on his plane en route to an official visit to Ukraine.

Davutoglu later Monday also accused Russia of acting as a “terrorist organization” in Syria and vowed to deliver a robust response.

“If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organization and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response,” Davutoglu said through an official translator during a visit to Kiev.

“Unfortunately, barbaric attacks on civilians are continuing in Syria and these attacks are being waged by both Russia and terrorist groups,” Davutoglu said.

“Russia and other terrorist organizations — first and foremost, the Islamist State in Syria — are responsible for numerous crimes against humanity,” he added.

In the same day, Russia described Turkey’s shelling of Kurdish and Syrian regime positions in the north of the country was a “provocative” action.

“Moscow expresses its most serious concern about aggressive actions by Turkish authorities,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. It said Ankara was pursuing a “provocative line” that “is creating a threat to peace and security in the Middle East and beyond.”

On Monday, seven Russian missiles struck a hospital in the northern Syrian town of Azaz, a Turkish security official said, adding the civilian death toll to rise above 14.

Independent Doctors Association, a Syrian non-government organization that runs a hospital in Bab al Salama near the Turkish border, said at least 30 people were wounded in the attacks.

Russia accuses Turkey

Russia also accused Turkey on Monday of assisting “fresh jihadi groups and armed mercenaries” to penetrate Syria illegally to replenish the battle-battered detachments of ISIS and other terrorist organizations.

“Moscow expresses its most serious concern about the aggressive actions by the Turkish authorities regarding the neighboring state,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

U.S. urges for calm

The United States on Monday urged Turkey and Russia to avoid any further escalation after the two traded verbal blows over their respective military actions in war-torn Syria.

“It is important that the Russians and Turks speak directly, and take measures to prevent escalation,” a State Department spokesperson told AFP.

Turkey denies sending troops

The Turkish government denied claims that it had sent troops into northern Syria, where the regime backed by the Russian air force has launched a major campaign, state-run Anatolia news agency said on Monday, quoting the defence minister.

“It is not true,” Ismet Yilmaz told parliament on Sunday night when asked whether Turkish soldiers had intervened in the fighting in the Syrian province of Aleppo.

“The Turkish military has no intention of intervening in Syria.”

The Syrian government claimed that on Saturday 12 pick-up trucks equipped with heavy machine guns and ammunition had crossed into Syria from Turkey via the Bab al-Salama border crossing.

They “were accompanied by around 100 gunmen, some of them Turkish forces and Turkish mercenaries,” Syrian state news agency SANA quoted the foreign ministry as saying.

Turkish artillery struck at targets of Kurdish militia at the weekend, with Ankara insisting that it was returning fire under the rules of engagement.

The regime in Damascus has condemned Ankara over the shelling while urging the United Nations to act.

Turkish soldier killed

A Turkish soldier was killed near the Syrian border in a clash with a group of people who attempted to illegally cross into Turkey, the army said on Monday.

The incident took place on Sunday near the border town of Yayladagi across from the northwestern Latakia region of Syria, the army said in a statement.

Turkish forces at a border post intervened against the group’s attempt to illegally enter Turkey and “our hero comrade fell martyr at the scene,” the army said, without elaborating on the circumstances of the incident or the identity of the individuals.

Turkey shares a 911-kilometre (566-mile) border with Syria and is under pressure from its Western allies to stem the flow of ISIS group militants.

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