The Kurdish YPG militia, a critical part of the USA -backed campaign against Islamic State, already controls swathes of northern Syria where Kurdish groups have established de facto autonomy since the start of the Syria war in 2011.
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New fighting broke out overnight between Kurdish and regime forces in the flashpoint northern Syrian city of Hasakeh, a monitor said on Monday, as Russian officials pursued mediation efforts.
Ankara is also concerned about the growing power of USA -backed Syrian Kurdish forces, who it says are linked to Kurdish groups waging an insurgency in southeastern Turkey.
The Kurdish YPG militia is at the heart of a US -led campaign against Islamic State and controls swathes of the north, where Kurdish groups associated with the militia have set up their own government since the Syrian war began in 2011.
Turkish artillery shelled Islamic State targets across the border in Syria for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, a senior Turkish official said, amid reports that Turkey-backed Syrian rebels are preparing an offensive against an IS-held border town.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a number of coordinated and lone wolf attacks in Europe, Turkey and the United States and Canada.
A Syrian rebel with one of the Turkey-backed groups said the fighters were waiting for the signal to enter Jarablus.
The town is 33 kilometers (20 miles) from the town of Manbij, which was liberated from IS by Kurdish-led forces earlier this month.
The Pentagon has since expanded this to declaring the area “an exclusion zone”, which is distinct from a no-fly zone because the Pentagon says it is a different thing. He declined to comment on whether the SDF would send fighters to the town, but a statement from the SDF said “we are prepared to defend the country against any plans for a direct or indirect occupation”.
The minister also said Turkey had killed some 650 IS militants in strikes carried out from a military base in northern Iraq, without providing a time frame.
In a separate development on Monday, Kurdish forces in the Syrian city of Hasakah violated a ceasefire agreement they had struck with Syrian army forces on Sunday under a Russian mediation.
Asked whether the USA policy is to shoot down a Syrian or Russian aircraft if it poses a threat to USA troops on the ground, Cook said, “We’re going to defend our forces on the ground, absolutely”.
Washington’s aerial support for the Kurds, which has effectively grounded Assad’s warplanes over Hasakah and given the YPG an vast advantage against government troops, is likely to further alienate Turkey. One of the Kurdish officials said the deal was concluded on Monday evening “via worldwide parties”. This comes after two mortar rounds, believed to have been fired by the militants, landed on Turkish territory.
Kerry’s proposal would have Washington and Moscow share intelligence to coordinate air strikes against the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front and prohibit the Syrian air force from attacking moderate rebel groups.
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The YPG appeared intent on leaving a nominal Syrian government presence confined to within a security zone in the heart of the city, where several key government buildings are located, Kurdish sources said.
