“We’ve called on both sides to not fight with one another, to continue to focus the fight on ISIL”, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told a Pentagon news conference, using an acronym for Islamic State.
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Syrian rebels, backed by Turkey and the United States, pushed deeper toward us -backed Kurdish positions in northern Syria on Monday, as Turkey’s foreign minister warned the Kurds to “immediately” pull back east of the Euphrates River or face more assaults.
The comments come after Turkish forces began a two- pronged operation against IS and Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) inside Syria on Wednesday.
Turkey sees the Kurdish YPG militia as an extension of the illegal Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Earlier this month, U.S. officials had praised the YPG-dominated “Syrian Democratic Forces” for their liberation of the IS-held town of Manbij on the western side of the Euphrates. Reports suggested that at the start of the operation, Turkish forces were targeting Isis, but had since turned their efforts to attacking the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition that encompasses the Kurdish YPG militia.
Turkish-backed forces pushed deeper into northern Syria on Monday, the latest move in a two-week offensive.
Representatives of the Kurdish-backed SDF said on Sunday that Turkish airstrikes and shelling of predominantly Kurdish positions in northeast Syria led to civilian casualties.
Carter said one of the things the United States is talking to Turkey about is clarifying where different elements of the SDF are in the area, particularly those belonging to the YPG.
Last week Ankara-backed forces captured the Isis border stronghold of Jarabulus, facing seemingly little resistance from the jihadists who fled to bases further south.
“Uncoordinated operations and maneuvers only provide room for ISIL to find sanctuary and continue planning attacks against Turkey, the SDF, the United States, and our partners around the world”.
U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China, the White House said Monday. “We are not pursuing an aim of becoming a permanent power in Syria”.
Both Turkey and the United States have ordered the YPG militia to withdraw to the east bank of the river.
Turkey has not spelled out if it plans to set up a “buffer zone” in the region where it is fighting in north Syria.
Now the rebels have retaken many villages south of Jarablus, the group backed by Turkey is advancing towards the city of Manbij a YPG stronghold in northern Syria.
Ankara said it had killed 25 Kurdish “terrorists” and insisted the army was doing everything possible to avoid civilian casualties.
The Anadolu Agency is citing military officials as saying that Turkish artillery immediately responded to the rockets fired on the town of Kilis on Monday by firing at targets across the border.
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The Observatory also reported clashes between rebels and IS fighters on the western edge of Jarablus.
