ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Saturday announced its forces had killed at least 52 Turkish-backed rebels near Tishreen Dam on the Euphrates River, also reporting five deaths among its ranks, following violent clashes.

The US-backed SDF said in a statement that Turkish-backed groups, with the support of Turkish warpleanes, had launched an attack in the vicinity of the key dam, leading to intense clashes between the SDF-affiliated Manbij Security Council and the groups.

The SDF announced killing 52 pro-Turkish rebels, destroying two armored vehicles and a tank belonging to the groups, and seizing a number of weapons and ammunition, after 12 hours of fighting.

“The mercenaries were forced to flee the area, where they gathered at a military point near Tishrin Dam, and became a target for our forces, which inflicted more deaths and injuries among them,” the statement added.

Earlier on Saturday, the SDF had announced that five of its fighters were killed due to intensified Turkish aerial bombardment and artillery shelling on the area.

Clashes have erupted between the Kurdish forces and Turkey and its affiliated rebel groups in SDF-controlled areas since the start of the anti-government group’s campaign in late November, resulting in casualties and leading to the displacement of thousands of civilians.

Ankara has said it would press on with military preparations in northern Syria against the SDF until the groups is disarmed, claiming that the Kurdish-led force is a security threat to Turkey.

The SDF, considered the Kurdish de facto army in Syria and the US’ primary ally in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in the country, controls the bulk of northeastern and eastern regions of Syria, amounting to a quarter of the country's territory.

Turkey considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, to be inextricably linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), however, the YPG insists that they merely subscribe to a similar ideology.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara A. Leaf on Friday said that Washington is working on de-escalating the situation in northeast Syria, and is engaged in discussions with both Turkey and the SDF to find “a managed transition” of the Kurdish-led group in that part of the country, claiming that the conditions which initially led them to organize have changed.

The US is “quite concerned about the effects of fighting near the Tishrin Dam and damage to that dam, especially if it were significant structural damage, the threat that it could cause to thousands of people and communities downstream,” according to Leaf.