- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his fresh offensive into northern Syria had begun today
- ‘Operation Peace Spring’ launched in a bid to ‘bring peace to the area’ by targeting ‘terrorists’ near the border
- Turkish President Erdogan attacked Kurds along the border who had allied with the US in war against ISIS
- Commanders warned of a ‘humanitarian disaster’ and chaos in refugee camps if planned invasion goes ahead
- Kurds called up civilians to the army, telling them to ‘do your duty’ as Damascus vowed to resist any invasion
- Trump had agreed to withdraw US troops from Syria and hand control of the military operation to the Turkish
- US President said Turkey’s incursion into Syria was a ‘bad idea’ and that the US ‘does not endorse this attack’
Donald Trump has blasted the Turkish airstrikes on Syrian Kurds and ISIS fighters, saying he ‘does not endorse’ President Erdogan’s long-awaited military assault in Syria today.
Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of the offensive – called ‘Operation Peace Spring’ – in northern Syria this afternoon in a bid to ‘bring peace to the area’ by targeting Kurdish fighters whom Ankara regards as ‘terrorists’.
President Trump – who ordered American troops out of the area – said Turkey’s incursion into the area was a ‘bad idea’ and said that Washington ‘does not endorse this attack.’
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Turkish warplanes had caused ‘huge panic’ when they attacked the Kurdish-held territory today, days after Donald Trump pulled out U.S. troops.
SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said on Twitter: ‘Turkish warplanes have started to carry out air strikes on civilian areas.’
Pictures and video footage from the ground appeared to show civilians desperately fleeing the area as clouds of smoke rose from the positions targeted by Turkish jets.
Artillery units were shelling Kurdish towns across the border and the SDF said two civilians were killed and two others injured, while at least one fighter was also reported killed.
Tanks and troops had been massing on the border since Trump announced that American troops would step aside.
Hours after the assault was launched, President Trump tweeted that US troops should ‘never have been’ in the Middle East in the first place.
In Damascus, Syria’s deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad warned that the Assad government ‘will defend all Syrian territory and will not accept any occupation of any land or iota of the Syrian soil’.