Since then, Turkish forces have mainly pushed into areas controlled by forces aligned to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition that encompasses the Kurdish YPG militia and which has been backed by Washington to fight the jihadists.
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Ankara says it aims to push both Isil and Kurdish fighters away from its border. Turkey, which wants to stop Kurdish forces from further extending their control near its border, has demanded such a withdrawal.
On Monday, a US Defense Department official said “all” Kurdish forces had moved east of the river.
The U.S. says the Kurdish fighters to withdraw from the contested area, but this isn’t the first time U.S. -backed groups have clashed. “Yet, Turkish army and affiliated militants ambushed the vehicle of that unit and captured four combatants inside”, the YPG said.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said: “The YPG … needs to cross east of the Euphrates as soon as possible”.
And President Barack Obama will meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan next weekend in China, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit, with Syria high on the agenda. The Turkish thrust into Syria has added another complication to an already multi-sided civil war in its sixth year that has killed more than 300,000, displaced millions and led to a refugee crisis in Europe.
Chief YPG spokesman Redur Xelil told Reuters that Turkish armored vehicles were patrolling the area and opened fire on the YPG fighters between the Kurdish-controlled cities of Qamishli and Amouda in Syria’s northern Hasaka province.
The YPG says its forces withdrew from the region before the Turkish assault and have already crossed the Euphrates, in line with a demand from the United States to withdraw to the eastern side of the river that flows through Syria or lose USA support.
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.
Turkey has long feared a strong Kurdish presence near its borders, which was one of the main reason it crossed the borders with its tanks and Syrian rebels it was training.
But the United States is highly critical of the continuing offensive as the Turks are increasingly attacking Kurdish-aligned forces which Washington sees as an effective force against ISIL.
Turkey then sent its troops, aiding Syrian rebels to move in on the next IS-held town, across it borders, prompting clashes between the two USA -allies and raising concerns they would distract from the fight against IS.
Hollande urged Russia to cooperate with the US -led coalition and said he would invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to France in October, saying Russia should be “a player in negotiations, not a protagonist in the action”. However, Turkish Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş stressed Monday that his country does not plan to stay in Syria, and that Damascus was informed through Moscow about Turkey’s “Euphrates Shield Operation”.
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The Local Coordination Committees, an activist collective, says the rebels captured seven more villages since late Sunday.
