Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Rocket fire hits Turkish mosque
Move deeper into Syria imperils shared goals,Trump says
People work to clear rubble in a mosque Wednesday in the Turkish town of Kilis on the Syrian border after two rockets were fired from inside Syria, hitting the mosque and a home. Two people were killed, officials said. The attack came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to expand military operations against Kurdish forces in Syria.
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed to expand Ankara’s operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria beyond the enclave of Afrin and toward the town of Manbij, which would move Turkish troops and their Syrian allies closer to U.S. forces supporting the Kurds against the Islamic State.
President Donald Trump, in a phone call with Erdogan, warned Turkey against taking steps that could risk military conflict between U.S. and Turkish forces in Syria and urged the Turkish leader to limit the operation and civilian casualties.
The White House said Trump expressed concerns about the growing violence and told Erdogan it jeopardizes shared U.S.-Turkish goals in Syria. He expressed concern about “destructive and false rhetoric coming from Turkey.” It did not elaborate on that rhetoric.
Erdogan’s office said the Turkish leader urged Trump in the phone call to halt the U.S. supply of weapons to the Syrian Kurdish militia. He also told Trump that Turkey’s offensive seeks to rid Afrin of “terrorist elements” and protect Turkey’s national security.
A senior U.S. official, speaking earlier, said Washington is concerned that Turkey’s military offensive against Afrin could distract from the fight against the Islamic State and be exploited by extremists to re-supply or create safe havens.
The official told reporters in Ankara on Wednesday that the Syrian Kurdish fighters in Afrin are not part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which drove Islamic State from much of northeastern Syria with the help of the U.S.-led coalition.
Regarding threats to expand the offensive to Manbij, the official said Washington’s “number one concern is the safety and security of troops in the vicinity.” U.S. forces are based in Kurdish-held parts of northeastern Syria, including near Manbij, but not in or near Afrin.
Turkey launched an incursion Saturday into Afrin, which is controlled by a Kurdish militia known as the People’s Protection Units. Ankara views that militia as an extension of the Kurdish insurgency in Turkey. The militia forms the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Any move toward Manbij would take NATO member Turkey and its Syrian allies closer to U.S. forces, threatening friction. The U.S. has urged Turkey to exercise restraint. Erdogan, in turn, vowed to “foil games along our borders, starting from Manbij.”
“We will clean our region from this trouble completely,” he told officials at a meeting in Ankara. “This operation will continue until the last member of the terror organization is neutralized.”
Syrian Kurdish forces captured Manbij, which is west of the Euphrates River, from the Islamic State in 2016 with the help of the U.S.-led coalition. Turkey has long demanded that the Kurdish fighters withdraw to the eastern bank of the river, and U.S. forces have patrolled the area to reduce tensions.
The head of the Kurdish-controlled Manbij military council, Shervan Darwish, said his forces are prepared for a potential Turkish advance. He said the United States helped Kurdish fighters to liberate Manbij and has promised to keep defending it.
“Their presence has been to ensure the stability in Manbij,” he said of U.S. troops. “Their patrols are continuing and also air patrols. They are present with us on the front lines.”
The advancing Turkish troops are facing stiff resistance in Afrin. Activists and Kurdish officials say airstrikes are still raining on several parts of the district, which borders Turkey. On Wednesday, Kurdish officials said airstrikes hit in the vicinity of the Nissan 17 Dam, which provides power and water to the area, without damaging it.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group that monitors the civil war, reported airstrikes in nearly 20 villages. The People’s Protection Units said it infiltrated behind Turkish lines east of Afrin and targeted their bases.
The United Nations says an estimated 5,000 people have been displaced inside the encircled enclave, and that Kurdish forces are not allowing civilians to leave.
Erdogan said Turkish troops and allied fighters have killed at least 268 Syrian Kurdish fighters since the operation began, a number disputed by Kurdish officials and a war monitoring group. He said Turkish troops have suffered seven or eight losses.
At least 42 Kurdish fighters have been killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Another 48 Syrian fighters fighting alongside the Turkish military against the People’s Protection Units were also killed, said the Observatory.
At least 27 civilians have been killed in the fighting in Afrin, mainly in Turkish airstrikes, according to the Observatory.
In Turkey, two people were killed and 11 were hurt Wednesday evening after two rockets fired from inside Syria hit a mosque and a home in the border town of Kilis, said local governor Mehmet Tekinarslan.
Turkey says it wants to create a 20-mile deep “secure zone” in Afrin. Erdogan said the operation would allow Syrian refugees to return home. Turkey is home to more than 3.4 million Syrian refugees.