Turkish-backed Syrian rebels entered the Islamic State-held town of Jarablus in northern Syria on Wednesday in an operation supported by Turkish tanks, special forces units and US-led coalition warplanes, rebel sources said.
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Explosions echoed across the Turkish border as Turkish artillery and rocket fire destroyed 70 targets in the Jarablus area, and airstrikes hit another 12 targets, Turkish media reported.
Security sources quoted by Turkish television said a small contingent of special forces had travelled into Syria to secure the area before the larger ground operation.
Mr Biden on Thursday echoed Turkey’s demands that the Kurds cross back over the Euphrates or risk losing USA support. As a result, the operation is expected to loosen their grip on Syria.
As the administration continues to pursue a strategy of partnering with a hodgepodge of local fighters against the Islamic State group without getting pulled deeper into Syria’s civil war or rupturing relations with Turkey, Kerry will meet Lavrov in Geneva on Friday.
The operation, assisted by USA warplanes, is a significant escalation of Turkey’s role in the fight against the Islamic State, the militant extremist group ensconced in parts of Syria and Iraq that has increasingly been targeting Turkey.
The visit comes at a hard time for ties between the two North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies.
Biden’s visit was meant to allay widespread suspicions in Turkey that the U.S. may have been involved in the failed coup attempt, and also to gauge how Erdogan’s recent overtures to Russian Federation would affect U.S. -Turkey relations.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Kurdish forces “must as soon as possible cross to the east of the Euphrates”.
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The operation came as Mr Erdogan met US Vice President Joe Biden to discuss global issues.
The U.S.is also prepared to provide air support to the Syrian rebels if needed, the official said.
Mr Biden, meanwhile, said Washington supported the Turkish-led operation in Jarablus and that the USA had provided air cover.
Meanwhile, late Wednesday, more Turkish tanks were seen heading towards Jarablus, which could indicate, the fight is not yet over? No separate entity on the Turkish border.
Syrian fighter reconnaissance teams have begun working in the centre of Jarabulus to check for any explosives left behind by the jihadists.
The official said the U.S. is “syncing up” with the Turks on their plans for Jarablus after Islamic State leaves, and that Turkish shelling was hitting Islamic State, not Kurdish forces. The town, which lies on the western bank of the Euphrates River where it crosses from Turkey into Syria, is one of the last important IS-held towns between Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria.
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During a visit to Ankara on Wednesday, US Vice-President Joe Biden said Washington had warned the SDF not to move west of the Euphrates or risk losing American support. For that reason, Turkey’s push to take Jarablus has as much to do with limiting the YPG’s territorial ambitions as it does with forcing ISIS from the border. On Tuesday, residents of the Turkish town of Karkamis, across the border from Jarablus, were told to evacuate after three mortars believed to be fired by IS militants landed there, Turkey’s Dogan news agency said.
