Turkey intensifies air and ground strikes in Syria’s Afrin region

Now some 2,000 US troops remain in Syria, largely assigned to training local forces – including a Kurdish-led border force in the northeast region at the border with Turkey and Iraq.

A high-level US delegation arrived in Turkey Monday to discuss a number of issues with officials, including cooperation and the Turkish military operation in Syria’s Afrin region, according to diplomatic sources, Anadolu Agency reports.

Kalin also said unity was “Turkey’s biggest strength”.

France has already called for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation.

“Turkey is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally”. We will stay as long as we need”, he said “We have no interest in staying there. “It distracts from worldwide efforts to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS, it could be exploited by ISIS and al-Qaida for resupply and safe haven, and it risks exacerbating the humanitarian crisis”.

Despite the United States backtracking on its statement, and saying they were misunderstood, Ankara, which considers the Kurdish-dominated YPG force terrorists, said it was launching a military operation against the Syrian Kurdish enclave. “We call on all our noble people to defend Afrin and its pride, and to contribute in all related activities”.

Associated Press journalists at Hassa, a Turkish village on the Turkey-Syrian border, saw at least eight tanks and five armored vehicles along with trucks preparing to cross into Syria.

Qatar ‘s announcement came as Turkey ‘s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to step up an offensive against Kurdish targets in neighbouring Syria and Iraq.

In the northeast of Afrin, pro-Ankara rebels entered the village of Qastal Jando, the Observatory said.

Turkey considers the YPG a terror organization because of its affiliation to its own Kurdish insurgency.

The latest development leading up to the Afrin operation was an announcement by the USA military earlier this month that it was going to create a 30,000-member border force with the Kurdish fighters to secure northern Syria.

The incident took place late on Monday in Terminal B and was caused by a spontaneous demonstration of Kurdish people against Turkey’s military actions in Syria.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has expressed “concern” about Turkey’s offensive against Kurdish militia in northern Syria, urging restraint but stopping short of demanding an end to the operation.

Indeed, before the move into the Kurdish-controlled Afrin region of Syria, Turkish President Erdogan sent two of his top military and intelligence officials to consult with Moscow, according to reports.

Al-Kurdi claims he has been arrested “several times” by the SDF for political reasons, but opposes the Turkish incursion into Afrin because it “threatens the safety of civilians” there.

Meanwhile, one Turkish soldier was killed during the third day of clashes with Kurdish forces.

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin later thanked the Turkish-Armenian Patriarchate for its support.

The suspects are being held in a nationwide crackdown on those posting social media messages deemed to be supportive of terror groups, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.