The United States pressed Turkey on Saturday to halt military strikes on Kurdish targets Saturday in the northern province of Aleppo.

The United States pressed Turkey on Saturday to halt military strikes on Kurdish targets Saturday in the northern province of Aleppo.

"We are concerned about the situation north of Aleppo and are working to de-escalate tensions on all sides," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

State-run news agency Anatolia, quoting a military source, said the armed forces shelled Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) targets around the town of Azaz.

"We have urged Syrian Kurdish and other forces affiliated with the YPG not to take advantage of a confused situation by seizing new territory," Kirby said.

"We have also seen reports of artillery fire from the Turkish side of the border and urged Turkey to cease such fires."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Minnigh air base, recently taken by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia from Takfiri insurgents, was hit in the Turkish shelling.

Ankara considers the PYD and its YPG militia to be branches of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.
"Turkey and the YPG share a serious threat of ISIL poised just to the east of the Azaz corridor," Kirby added.

"We continue to encourage all parties to focus on this common threat, which has not subsided, and to work toward a cessation of hostilities, as agreed in Munich."