Syrian rebels backed by Turkey said the offensive aimed to put pressure on IS from both east and west in that area of the border zone.
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Turkish military tanks are seen during clashes between Turkish soldiers and Islamic State group fighters, 20 km west of the Turkish-Syrian border town of Karkamis, in the southern region of Gaziantep, on September 3, 2016.
Turkey’s state-run news agency says Turkish tanks have entered Syria’s Cobanbey district northeast of Aleppo in a “new phase” of the Euphrates Shield operation.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels had won control from IS of three villages in the area on Saturday, two nearer to Jarablus and one on the new front to the west.
The Turkey-Kurdish fight is yet another complication in the tangled civil war that is ravaging Syria as both Turkey and the US seek to retake territory from Islamic State jihadists by supporting different proxy groups. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the Turkish troops. Jarabulus is located 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Turkish-Syrian border. The rebels advancing from Jarablus say they captured three more villages from the extremists on Saturday.
U.S. President Barack Obama gave guarantees to Ankara that self-defense forces of Syrian Kurds will not take Manbij city in the northern Syria, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Day.Az reported with the reference to RIA Novosti. Dogan says rockets have killed 21 Kilis residents and wounded scores since January. Anadolu said the wounded were children.
Turkey’s military says its right to self-defence as well as United Nations resolutions to combat the IS group justify its Syria incursions. FSA units are also fighting the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, which Ankara considers terrorists.
The U.S. has provided extensive aid and airstrikes to the YPG-led Syria Democratic Forces, which have proven to be highly effective against IS.
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In an interview with Reuters while on a visit to the United States, Numan Kurtulmus also said that Washington had a responsibility to work with its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally Turkey on “all different terrorist threats” – a reference to their stark differences in Syria policy.
