Turkey on October 9 launched an assault on Syrian Kurdish forces after US President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw troops from Syria. Trump's Republican supporters too have criticised the move to remove troops from Syria. Turkey who wants Kurdish fighters or the SDF to back-off from the border has been deemed as a 'bad idea by President Trump, who also said that he will impose more sanctions on Turkey unless the move is reconsidered.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to press on with a deadly assault against Kurdish forces.
15 Syrians, 8 among them civilians had lost their lives on day one of the offensive attacks. According to a Pentagon spokesperson, an explosion took place within a few hundred meters of the post of the Kurdish led-Syrian Democratic forces on Friday. The post is close to the northern Syrian border. According to a source, US troops too came under artillery fire from Turkish positions.
The explosion took place in an area “known by the Turks to have US forces present,” the spokesperson said. However, Navy Captain Brook DeWalt said, “US troops are accounted for with no injuries,” He also added that US forces had not withdrawn from their position near the town of Kobani.
Turkey's offensive attack on the Kurds is being criticised by other national governments. Trump's withdrawal of troops from Syria is also being viewed as US' betrayal of the Kurds. the Kurdish forces have lost 11,000 fighters in its fight against IS, alongside the US.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, in its terror campaign against Turkey, that has been going on for more than 30 years, has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
“The US demands that Turkey avoid actions that could result in immediate defensive action,” warned DeWalt. Earlier Friday, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper “strongly encouraged” Turkey to halt its offensive as a prelude to such negotiations, warning of “serious consequences”. But Erdogan vowed the assault “will not stop”. “We can shut down the Turkish economy if we need to,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. He added that "Now threats are coming from left and right, telling us to stop this. We will not step back."
The civilian death toll is 17 on the Syrian side, while 17 have also been killed in Turkey. According to the monitor, 54 SDF fighters have also been killed while Turkey has reported the deaths of four soldiers. Ras al-Ain, Tal Abyad and other border towns between them have been almost emptied due to conflict in the area. People have been fleeing east towards the city of Hasakeh, which has not been targeted by Turkey.
“What does Erdogan want from us?” asked one woman, as she and her family settled into a school being used as an emergency shelter.
“Is it all simply because we are Kurds?”
Aid groups have warned, that unless the attack is not stopped, it could lead to another humanitarian crisis like the eight-year-old war against ISIS turned out to be.
France, a key partner in the US-led anti-IS coalition, has threatened sanctions against NATO member Turkey. French leader Emmanuel Macron said the Turkish offensive must stop “as soon as possible” in a phone conversation with Trump on Friday, the presidency said. The Kurdish administration says some 12,000 men are held in seven detention centres across Kurdish-controlled areas.
The US says it has already plucked two of the most high-profile IS jihadists to have been captured and spirited them out of Syria.