The observatory estimated that 300,000 civilians left Al-Haska due to the ongoing Turkish offensive against the Syrian Kurds DUBAI: At least 70 civilians were killed and five injured from a missile attack carried out by Turkey and its allied factions in areas of Syria’s Al-Haska province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Wednesday. The observatory estimated that 300,000 civilians left Al-Haska due to the ongoing Turkish offensive against the Syrian Kurds. Power stations went out of service and several towns and villages have become depopulated, the Syrian monitor said. Earlier this month, the European Council said in a statement that Turkey’s military action in northern Syria had “dramatic consequences” and noted that some EU countries had halted arms exports. Turkish troops and their allied factions attacked Kurdish militia in northeast Syria on Oct. 9, pounding them with air strikes and artillery. Battles raged in the key Syrian border with Turkey with Kurdish fighters trying to hold off the onslaught by Turkish-backed forces, now in its second week. The offensive came as the US pulled out its troops from Syria, amid international criticism of the move. The Turkish operation has widespread support in Turkey, where decades of bloody insurgency by Kurdish militants has killed tens of thousands of people. Erdogan wants to create a buffer zone stretching 30 kilometres from the border into Syrian territory.