“We have called upon Turkey to stay focused on the fight against the ISIL and not to engage Syrian defense forces”, said Carter here at a press conference, referring to another acronym of IS.
Advertisement
Kurdish-backed forces in northern Syria say they will withdraw south from their current positions in order not to put the lives of civilians in danger, following attacks by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels.
The report says one of rockets struck the wall of a house, while the other two landed on empty land.
Last week, the Turkish Army, along with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), dislodged ISIS from Jarabulus, a town on the Syrian-Turkish border.
Erdogan says: “The Jarablus operation was a reflection of our determination”. The Turkish government asserts that the operation is meant to curb Islamic State expansion in Syria and announced the move shortly after an ISIS attack on a wedding in the city of Gaziantep. Since then it has drawn in regional states and world powers, with a proliferation of rival rebel groups, militias and jihadists adding to the complexity.
The strikes against the YPG are hugely sensitive as the outfit – seen as a terror group by Ankara – is allied with Turkey’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation partner, the United States, in the fight against IS in Syria.
Ankara-backed forces faced little resistance when they captured the IS border stronghold of Jarabulus last week, days after a suspected IS suicide bombing killed 55 people in southeast Turkey. Dozens were killed Sunday in a series of bombardments as Turkish artillery and air strikes hit several villages held by Syrian Kurdish forces, including Jeb el-Kussa, where at least 20 died and 50 were wounded.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the clashes were of “deep concern”, adding that they were not coordinated with USA forces, “and we do not support them”.
Syria’s official Sana agency said Damascus had written to the UN Security Council to protest Turkey’s “crimes against humanity” in the country. But the US also supports the SDF, which has been enormously successful fighting ISIS.
He called for steps to de-escalate the situation and said Washington had once again told the YPG to retreat east of the Euphrates.
Turkish military officials said in an emailed statement on Monday that the Syrian opposition forces were continuing with their operations to clear IS-controlled areas by moving west of zone under their control.
The Kurdish announcement came hours after the warning by Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu – and is unlikely to satisfy Ankara.
The International Committee of the Red Cross says Monday’s delivery is the second time that the international aid group is entering the area since 2015.
Turkish-backed forces say they have seized a string of villages south of Jarablus in a region controlled by groups aligned to the US – and Kurdish-backed SDF.
Advertisement
It comes as the USA has urged Turkey to focus its efforts in Syria on Daesh, and to avoid engaging with the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Washington’s principal partner in Syria. The Local Coordination Committees, an activist collective, said the rebels captured seven more villages since late Sunday.
