US-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters have opened up a new front against so-called Islamic State (IS) in northern Syria, close to the Turkish border.
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Thousands of forces have been deployed in the offensive, which could take weeks, unnamed United States officials told Reuters news agency.
The operation aims to cut Isis’ access to Syrian territory along the Turkish border, which is used by militants as a logistics base for moving foreign fighters in and out of Europe.
“They say Kurdish forces will provide logistical support during the operation, while Arabs will play the main role”, Erdogan told journalists, as quoted by the NTV broadcaster, during his visit to Kenya.
US officials said a small number of USA special operations forces would support the offensive on the ground, acting as advisers and staying back from the front lines.
The Observatory said the assault was being carried out by the Syria Democratic Forces, an alliance that includes the Kurdish YPG and Arab fighting groups. “They are doing all the things we can always do with able and motivated local forces to fight Isil”, said Mr Carter. The monitoring group, which relies on a network of activists inside Syria, said coalition airstrikes supporting the advance have killed 15 civilians in the past 24 hours.
United Nations spokeswoman Josephine Guerrero said the “main priority” is to access 592,700 people in besieged areas and millions more in hard-to-reach areas facing severe food shortages.
Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group and fiercely opposes any Kurdish advances near the border.
A senior western diplomat said that the SDF was made up of nearly 90 percent Kurdish fighters and that Arab representation was more symbolic and within the SDF’s Political echelons.
An earlier, partial cease-fire this year excluded al-Qaida’s Syria affiliate and its extremist rival the Islamic State group.
An armed man in uniform identified by Syrian Democratic forces as U.S. special operations forces stands in the back of a pickup truck in the village of Fatisah in the northern Syrian province of Raqa.
It says USA led air strikes there have killed 15 civilians. “So you’ll have Syrian Arabs occupying traditional Syrian Arab land”, the official said, adding Turkey supported the offensive. The Islamic State subsequently has not only pushed the rebels back from the areas they have taken but also has captured new territories that were formerly under rebel control.
Coalition officials have reported several air strikes in the area in recent days, including nine on Monday targeting an Isis bomb factory, tactical units, fighting positions, vehicles and tunnels.
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USA officials caution that territorial gains will not spell the end of Islamic State, which has established itself outside of its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria, spreading to Libya, Afghanistan and beyond.
