Turkey vows to widen offensive

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s president on Wednesday vowed to expand its operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria toward the town of Manbij, which would bring Turkish troops and their Syrian allies closer to U.S. forces supporting the Kurds against the Islamic State.

A senior U.S. official said Washington is concerned that Turkey’s military offensive against the Afrin enclave could distract from the fight against Islamic State and be exploited by extremists to re-supply or create safe havens.

The official told a handful of 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 against Afrin, which is controlled by a Kurdish militia known as the People’s Defense Units, or YPG. Ankara views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdish insurgency in Turkey. The YPG forms the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Any move toward Manbij would bring NATO member Turkey and its Syrian allies closer to U.S. forces, threatening friction. The U.S. has urged Turkey to exercise restraint.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed to continue the operation “until the last member of the terror organization is neutralized.”

Suzan Fraser and Nataliya Vasilyeva are Associated Press writers.