ISTANBUL Jan 20 (TNS): Turkish warplanes carried out airstrike against Kurdish fighters in Syria on Saturday to open a long-anticipated offensive on Afrin, an enclave for the Kurdish militias backed by the United States.
The offensive has raised fears of sparking a new round of hostilities between the various powers with interests in northern Syria, including Russia and the United States.
Turkish leaders have framed as part of its wider battle against the Kurdish separatists in southwest Turkey, known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. But Turkey also fears any gains in strength for the Syrian Kurds, whose territory runs along some of Turkey’s south border.
Syria had warned that it was prepared to fire on Turkish warplanes in the event of an attack on Afrin, about 12 miles from Turkey’s southern border.
In the past few days, the Trump administration had urged Turkey not to pursue the attack, arguing it amounted to a distraction from the ongoing battle against Islamic State militants in their remaining strongholds in Syria.
Washington is both allied with NATO partner Turkey and the Syrian Kurds as a proxy force against the Islamic State. There are roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in northern Syria,
The airstrikes on Saturday followed days of intense Turkish artillery fire on Kurdish positions, according to activists in Afrin.
