US urges de-escalation in Syria after series of retaliatory strikes

Military action opposed

The United States opposes any military action that destabilises the situation in Syria, a State Department spokesperson said, amid an escalation in retaliatory strikes by Turkey and a Kurdish militia along the Syrian border. Separately, Russia called on Turkey to show restraint in its use of "excessive" military force in Syria and to keep tensions from escalating, Russian news agencies cited a Russian envoy to Syria as saying on Tuesday. The comments came after Turkey said the Syrian Kurdish YPG killed two people in mortar attacks from northern Syria on Monday, following Turkish air operations at the weekend and a deadly bomb attack in Istanbul a week earlier. A child and a teacher were killed and six were wounded when mortar bombs hit a border area in Turkey's Gaziantep province. — reuters