- Turkey confirmed it carried out strikes against Kurdish forces on the Syria-Iraq border overnight Monday
- Strike was designed to sever supply lines between Kurds in the two countries in preparation for invasion
- Turkey plans to create a ‘peace corridor’ in northern Syria by driving Kurdish forces away from its border
- Comes after Donald Trump agreed to withdraw U.S troops from Syria, but denied he abandoned the KurdsÂ
- Trump revealed on Tuesday that he has extended an invitation to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to meet with him at the White House in November
- He tweeted that Turkey was a ‘good trading partner’ of the U.S and ‘have been very good to deal with’
Turkey fired its first shots against the Kurds overnight by bombing a key supply route on the Syrian-Iraqi border, officials have confirmed.
The Turkish air force struck the Semalka Border Crossing in order to stop Kurdish forces resupplying along a route which links their territories in northern Iraq and Syria, two security officials said.
‘One of the fundamental goals was to cut off the transit route between Iraq and Syria before the operation in Syria, a source told Reuters. ‘In this way, the group’s support lines, including ammunition, are shut off.’
Video shot in the area overnight shows two large flashes against the horizon while the distant sound of fighter jets can be heard. It is thought this shows the crossing being destroyed.
It comes a day after Donald Trump agreed to withdraw US troops from Syria and hand control of regional security over to Turkey, which has vowed to create a ‘peace corridor’ along its border by wiping out ‘terrorists’.
Trump also confirmed on Tuesday morning that he’d  extended an invitation to the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to meet with him at the White House in November.
In a tweet, Trump said Turkey was a ‘good trading partner of the US’ and had been ‘very good to deal with’.
Turkey views the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces – America’s key ally in the battle against ISIS – as a terror group and has previously outlined plans to strike a series of their strongholds along the border.
Trump has been accused of a ‘spineless’ capitulation to Turkey over his pledge to withdraw troops – and on Tuesday denied that he had abandoned the Kurds to their fate.
He tweeted: ‘We may be in the process of leaving Syria, but in no way have we Abandoned the Kurds, who are special people and wonderful fighters. Likewise our relationship with Turkey, a NATO and Trading partner, has been very good.’