Turkey steps up shelling of Syria enclave

Turkey’s defence minister has said there is no turning back from his country’s decision to launch a ground assault on a Syrian Kurdish-controlled enclave in north-west Syria.

Nurettin Canikli confirmed the offensive had started with the sporadic Turkish military shelling of the area.

He told Turkey’s A Haber television the Syrian Kurdish fighters in the enclave of Afrin and other Kurdish-controlled territories posed a “real” and ever increasing threat to Turkey. “This operation will take place; the terror organisation will be cleansed,” he said.