Intense fighting flares as Turkey shells more targets in north-west Syria and says it will swiftly crush US-backed Kurdish YPG fighters in an air and ground offensive on the Afrin region beyond its border.

Turkey has shelled more targets in north-west Syria and says it will swiftly crush US-backed Kurdish YPG fighters in an air and ground offensive on the Afrin region beyond its border.

Kurdish fighters said at least 18 civilians, including women and children, had been killed in the offensive by Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels.

The three-day-old campaign has opened a new front in Syria's multi-sided civil war, realigning a battlefield where outside powers are supporting local combatants.

While Washington and other Western capitals expressed concern, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he had secured a go-ahead for the campaign from Russia, principal backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, long Turkey's foe.

Turkish forces and their Syrian anti-Assad rebel allies began their push on Saturday to clear the north-western border enclave of Kurdish YPG fighters.

Ankara considers the YPG to be allies of insurgents that have fought against the Turkish state for decades.

The United States, meanwhile, has armed and aided the YPG as its main ground allies against Islamic State militants.

France called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday, and Britain said it would look for ways to prevent any further escalation.

But Mr Erdogan said Turkey was determined to press ahead.

"We discussed this with our Russian friends, we have an agreement with them, and we also discussed it with other coalition forces and the United States."

The White House warned that the campaign risked exacerbating a humanitarian crisis and disrupting what had been a stable area.

"We urge Turkey to exercise restraint in its military actions and rhetoric, ensure that its operations are limited in scope and duration, ensure humanitarian aid continues and avoid civilian casualties," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a briefing.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel also expressed concern, calling his Turkish counterpart to express concerns about the possible effect on civilians.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington had proposed working with Turkey and forces on the ground in Afrin to "see how we can stabilise this situation and meet Turkey's legitimate concerns for their security".

But Turkey said Washington must end its support for the Kurdish YPG militia before any proposal for cooperation.

"If they want a cooperation, we are ready for this cooperation," Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

"As the first step to take, they can stop arming terror groups and take back weapons already given."

Syria has objected to the Turkish incursion, and Moscow, which controls parts of Syrian air space on behalf of its allies in Damascus, has not confirmed giving a green light to it.

But Russia does not appear to be acting to prevent it, and has pulled its own troops out of the Afrin area.

Iran, Mr Assad's other main military supporter, called for a halt to the operation.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said the Afrin campaign could lead to "the return of regional terrorism and extremism", according to state television.

The YPG's Afrin spokesman, Birusk Hasaka, said there were clashes between Kurdish and Turkish-backed forces on the third day of the operation, and that Turkish shelling had hit civilian areas in Afrin's north-east.

Afrin would be a "quagmire from which the Turkish army will only exit after suffering great losses", said a statement from the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces umbrella group.

The YPG said Afrin had already been reinforced in anticipation of the Turkish offensive, and there were discussions over whether to send more reinforcements from other YPG-held territory, which is separated from Afrin by areas held by Syrian government forces.

The United Nations has said it is deeply concerned for the more than 300,000 people in Afrin.</s>ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Latest on developments related to Syria (all times local):

The Pentagon says Turkey's military operations in the Syrian Kurdish enclave of Afrin are not helpful and threaten to damage the ongoing fight against Islamic State militants in Syria.

Joint Staff Director Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. says "the degree to which focus is taken off the reason we're in Syria, which is to go after ISIS, is the degree to which it damages the overall effort." He used an alternative acronym for IS.

He added that it "is not helpful to have these operations go on. We recognize that. And we're working with the Turks to try and minimize it."

He said that so far the U.S. is not yet seeing Syrian Democratic Forces splitting away from the fight against IS in the Euphrates River Valley and go to Afrin. But he said the U.S. is watching that very closely and will try to prevent it.

McKenzie says U.S. military commanders continue to talk with Turkey about the establishment of some type of safe zone along the border. Speaking during a Pentagon briefing, he said it's "simply an idea floating around right now" and there has been no decision yet.

Asked about Turkey's assertions that its troops will move on toward the town of Manbij, further from Afrin, McKenzie said the U.S. is clearly tracking movement by Turkey but downplayed the chances of American forces being threatened there.

He said the U.S. and Turkey coordinate closely, including on the whereabouts of U.S. forces in the region. Still, he noted that U.S. troops will defend themselves if necessary.

Dana White, chief spokeswoman for the Pentagon, said she is aware of news reports that Turkey has asked the U.S. military to leave Manbij, but is not aware of any direct conversations about it. At this point, she said, she's not aware of any changes in the location of U.S. troops there.

NATO's chief is urging Turkey to limit its use of force in northern Syria where its troops are battling a Kurdish militia that has been a top U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that he had discussed developments in the region with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other NATO allies.

Stoltenberg noted that Turkey is an ally "that suffers the most from terrorism" and said that "all nations have the right to defend themselves, but this has to be done in a proportionate and measured way."

The United States has by far the biggest defense budget of any of NATO's 29 allies and wields most political influence, while Turkey has one of the alliance's biggest armies.

Tensions between them are an embarrassment for NATO, but Stoltenberg has refrained from criticizing either country and suggests it is a bilateral issue because the alliance has no troops on the ground in Syria.

Turkish officials say President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has traveled to Turkey's border with Syria, where he is being briefed on Turkey's military offensive against the Syrian Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin.

Officials from Erdogan's office said Thursday the Turkish leader is visiting the command center overseeing the offensive, codenamed "Olive Branch," in Hatay province.

Erdogan was accompanied by Turkey's chief of military staff, the defense minister and other top officers, the officials said. They provided the information on condition of anonymity, in line with government rules.

Turkey launched the offensive on Jan. 20 to drive out Syrian Kurdish fighters it regards as a security threat because of their affiliation with outlawed Kurdish rebels in Turkey.

Turkey's foreign minister says U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson raised the possibility of the creation of a 30-kilometer-deep "safe zone" in Syria running along Turkey's border, during their meeting in Paris earlier this week, to help address Turkey's security concerns.

Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on Thursday that, however, trust between Ankara and Washington has to be restored before Turkey would be prepared to begin discussing the issue.

He said Turkey and the United States may have differing "understandings and expectations" as to what a safe zone would entail.

Cavusoglu spoke during a joint news conference with the visiting Austrian foreign minister in Istanbul.

He says: "We would need to restore trust before we can even discuss a serious issue such as forming a safe zone with the United States, let alone accept it."

In Davos, Tillerson was asked if he had proposed a safe zone to Cavusoglu.

Tillerson says: "No, we discussed a number of possible options but we didn't propose anything."

Cavusoglu reiterated that a White House readout about a telephone conversation between Turkey's Erdogan and President Donald Trump was not an accurate account of the call.

The foreign minister said the readout may have been drafted before the conversation took place.

A Syria war monitoring group says Islamic State militants are waging an intense attack on Syrian government troops stationed in the eastern Deir el-Zour province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Thursday the offensive extends over several kilometers along the western banks of the Euphrates river in the eastern province, killing over a dozen government fighters and allied militia.

State media reported the attack, saying it has repelled the advancing militants. IS itself announced on its social media accounts it is launching a wide offensive against government troops stationed near Boukamal, a border town in Deir el-Zour.

The militant group has suffered major territorial losses amid separate but simultaneous military campaigns by the Russia-backed Syrian government and the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces in eastern and northern Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says his government won't allow the creation of a "terrorist" entity along Turkey's borders, in further comments suggesting that Turkey could expand an offensive in the Syrian enclave of Afrin to other areas.

In a speech in Ankara on Thursday Yildirim again slammed the United States for backing the Syrian Kurdish militia force instead of standing by a NATO ally. Turkey regards the militia as an extension of outlawed Kurdish rebels fighting Turkey.

Yildirim said: "It is astounding and unacceptable ... that a country which is supposed to protect NATO's borders is giving open support to armed entities that target our borders."

Yildirim said as many as 300 militants have been "neutralized" — killed, injured or taken captive — so far in the Afrin offensive.

Turkish officials are disputing a White House readout of U.S. President Donald Trump's phone call with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying it does not "accurately reflect" the content of their discussions.

The officials said Thursday that contrary to a White House statement, Trump did not voice "concerns (about) escalating violence" over Turkey's cross-border operation against the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northern Syria.

The officials said Trump did not use the phrase "destructive and false rhetoric coming from Turkey" in reference to anti-U.S. statements by Turkish government officials.

They also said that during Wednesday's call, Trump assured Turkey that the U.S. would no longer supply Syrian Kurdish militia with weapons. Turkey considers the group as "terrorists."

The officials provided the information on condition of anonymity in line with government rules.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>On Wednesday, President Donald Trump had a long talk with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The telephone call came in the wake of Erdogan’s most recent demonstration of the fact that under his leadership, the Turkish-American alliance has become an empty shell.

Over his 15 years in power, Erdogan has gutted what had been a substantive, mutually beneficial and strategic alliance between the two countries since the dawn of the Cold War.

Last Saturday, Erdogan sent his forces over Turkey’s southern border to invade the Afrin region of Syria. The U.S.-allied Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have controlled the area, northwest of Aleppo, since 2012.

There are no U.S. forces in Afrin. But the area is predominantly populated by non-Arab minorities, including Yazidis, Armenians, and Kurds — all of whom are pro-American.

The Turks say their objective in “Operation Olive Branch” is to seize a 20-mile wide buffer zone on the Syrian side of their border. That includes the town of Manbij, located a few hundred miles east of Afrin, also controlled by the YPG.

Unlike Afrin, there are many U.S. forces in that city. A contingent of U.S. Special Forces charged with training YPG forces are stationed there. On Tuesday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu threatened those forces. “Terrorists in Manbij are constantly firing provocation shots,” he said, according to Reuters. “If the United States doesn’t stop this, we will stop this.”

Cavusoglu added, “The future of our relations depends on the step the United States will take next.”

The Turks’ pretext for the Afrin operation is as anti-American as it is anti-Kurdish.

On January 14, Col. Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the U.S.-led military coalition in Baghdad said that the U.S. is training a Kurdish border patrol force in Syria that will eventually number some 30,000 troops. On January 17, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. has no timetable for removing its forces from Syria.

In response, Erdogan vowed to “drown” the border protection force “before it is even born.”

Erdogan then threatened the U.S.

“This is what we have to say to all our allies: Don’t get in between us and terrorist organizations, or we will not be responsible for the unwanted consequences.”

The Trump administration’s immediate response to Turkey’s aggression against its Kurdish allies was deferential, to say the least.

Tillerson disavowed Dillon’s statement, saying the plan to train a border fence was never approved. “That entire situation has been misportrayed, misdescribed. Some people misspoke. We are not creating a border security force at all.”

A senior White House official told the New York Times that senior White House and National Security Council officials had never seriously considered the 30,000-man border force.

These statements are consistent with the U.S.’s general practice for the past 15 years, as Erdogan has gradually transformed Turkey from a Westernized democracy and a core member of NATO into an Islamist tyranny whose values and goals have brought it into alliance with U.S. foes Iran and Russia and into cahoots with Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and ISIS. The U.S. has met ever more extreme behavior from Ankara with a combination of denial and obsequiousness.

For example, the U.S. never sanctioned Turkey for its support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The U.S. didn’t penalize Turkey for its effective sponsorship of ISIS. For years, the Turks permitted ISIS to use their territory as its logistical base. ISIS’s foreign recruits entered Syria through Turkey. Its terrorists received medical care in Turkey. Turkey was the main purchaser of oil from ISI- controlled territory and there were repeated allegations that ISIS was receiving arms from Turkey.

And the U.S. turned a blind eye.

While many have expressed alarm over Turkey’s decision to purchase an S-400 surface to air missile system from Moscow, particularly given that Turkey has ordered 100 F-35s, all of which are endangered by the S-400, no U.S. official has taken any steps to expel Turkey from NATO.

The report of Trump’s conversation with Erdogan can be read in several ways. On the one hand, Trump urged Erdogan to “de-escalate” the operation in Afrin. Trump argued that the Turkish operation is harming the broader coalition campaign against ISIS in Syria.

Trump reportedly urged “Turkey to de-escalate, limit its military actions and avoid civilian casualties and increases to displaced persons and refugees,” as well as to “exercise caution and to avoid any actions that might risk conflict between Turkish and American forces.”

On the other hand, Trump was respectful of Turkey’s claim that the U.S.-supported YPG is linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey, which Turkey says is a terror group, and which the State Department has listed as a terror group.

The YPG has been the US’s most loyal and effective partner in the battle against ISIS in Syria. The US rejects Turkey’s allegation that the militia is a terror group. Still, Trump reportedly agreed that the PKK is a terror group and the White House’s statement regarding the two men’s conversation said the US seeks “regional stability and combating terrorism in all its forms,” including ISIS, al Qaeda, Iranian-sponsored terrorism and the PKK.

So what was Trump’s message?

Trump’s conversation with Erdogan appeared to be an attempt to bridge the yawning gap between the US’s policy of supporting and working with the Kurds in Syria and its deference for Erdogan and his regime.

The read-out of their conversation also reflected the distinct possibility that the Trump administration is implementing a sophisticated strategy for contending with Erdogan’s Turkey and its open and growing hostility to the US and its allies.

To understand that strategy it is first imperative to understand the present state of Turkey’s military.

While it is true that Turkey’s military is second only to the U.S. in size among NATO allies, the state of the Turkish military is atrocious. As former Pentagon official Michael Rubin from the American Enterprise Institute wrote this week in the Washington Examiner, Erdogan has gutted his armed forces in the wake of the failed military coup against his regime in July 2016.

Forty percent of Turkey’s senior officer corps has been purged. A quarter of Turkish pilots are in prison. Turkey has twice as many F-16s as trained pilots.

Turkey’s performance in combat in Syria has been abysmal, from the very earliest stages of the war. Rubin noted that in 2012 Syrian forces downed a Turkish F-4, and Kurds have downed Turkish helicopters.

Syria has been a prime killing ground for Turkish tanks. Kurds, ISIS and Syrian regime forces have all destroyed Turkish tanks. The Kurds have nabbed Turkish intelligence officers. Turkey’s power projection capabilities are weak.

None of this has escaped the Pentagon’s notice.

Last summer, as the U.S. launched its campaign to oust ISIS from its self-declared capital in Raqqa, Erdogan told the Americans that he would deploy his forces to fight alongside U.S. forces in Raqqa if the U.S. agreed to ditch the Kurdish YPG. The U.S. refused. Washington opted to side with the Kurds.

According to a report in the Washington Examiner, the Pentagon has a low opinion of Turkish capabilities. Turkish troops lack “the training, logistics and weaponry to successfully launch the siege of a fortified and well-defended city.”

On the other hand, the Pentagon assessed that the YPG were up to the task of assaulting and destroying ISIS forces in Raqqa. And as the battle of Raqqa demonstrated, they were right.

Rubin wrote that the Kurds in Afrin may well defeat the Turks.

So far, the Turks initial push has been unsuccessful.

While the U.S. has consistently treated Erdogan with respect, it has also sought to diminish U.S. dependence on Turkey.

Consider the issue of the NATO airbase at Incirlik, Turkey.

The Turks view Incirlik as their insurance policy. NATO air operations in Syria are coordinated from Incirlik. Most of the anti-ISIS coalition warplanes are based there. So long as NATO is dependent on Incirlik, so the thinking goes, Turkey can behave as abominably as it wishes.

So it was that following the failed coup in July 2016, Erdogan shut down Incirlik and paralyzed the coalition campaign against ISIS.

Erdogan failed to realize that his actions forced NATO allies to reconsider Turkey’s role in the alliance.

The U.S. responded to Erdogan’s move against Incirlik by expanding its air operations in Romania. And last summer, Germany’s Die Welt reported that the German military had identified eight alternatives to Incirlik, including three sites each in Kuwait and Jordan and two in Cyprus.

So while the stated policy of the U.S. towards Turkey is to continue to treat Turkey as an ally, the unstated U.S. policy is to bypass Turkey and render it irrelevant militarily while diminishing its capacity to harm either the U.S. or its allies.

This unstated policy is evidenced by the way the Pentagon responded to Turkey’s invasion of Afrin. Rather than disavow the plan to build a Kurdish border protection force, the Pentagon doubled down, and simply relabled it a “local security force.”

Pentagon and Central Command spokesmen and commanders also praised the Kurds for their key role in the campaign against ISIS.

“Our [Kurdish] partners are still making daily progress and sacrifices, and together we are still finding, targeting and killing ISIS errorists intent on keeping their extremist hold on the region,” Major General James Jarrard, the commander of Special Operations forces in Iraq and Syria, said in a statement.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis, for his part, has been the most outspoken in his criticism of the Turkish operation. Mattis told reporters Tuesday that the Turkish operation helps ISIS and al Qaeda.

It “distracts from the international efforts to ensure the defeat of ISIS. This could be exploited by ISIS and Al-Qaeda obviously, that we’re not staying focused on them right now,” Mattis said.

The U.S. has no interest in an open breach with Turkey. Any such breach will only strengthen Erdogan’s position at home and in the wider region. And given Turkey’s military weakness and the Kurds’ military power, America’s best bet is to keep its head down as Turkey insults it, while supporting the Kurds on the ground as they supplant the Turks as America’s partners in the field.

Rather than express dismay as Turkey moves further and further into the Russian-Iranian camp and away from the U.S., the administration can simply shrug its shoulders and let the chips fall. In this context, it makes sense that the administration did not try to prevent Turkey from purchasing the S-400 anti-aircraft system, which endangers the F-35 program.

Rather than trying to convince Erdogan not to walk out of NATO by rendering his weapons systems incompatible with NATO systems, last November, Assistant Undersecretary of Defense for International Affairs Heidi Grant simply let it be known that Turkey’s decision would have consequences for its planned purchase of 100 F-35s.

Speaking to Defense News, Grant said that the Turks “are a sovereign nation. They can choose to go with other partners. But I have made it very clear that it makes it a little more difficult for our partnership as a coalition because we will not be interoperable. As of right now, our current policies are, we would not be interoperable with Russian equipment.”

Turkey’s invasion of Afrin, like so many of its other actions in recent months and years, make it clear that it can no longer be considered a U.S. ally.

And a close examination of the Trump administration’s actions and statements indicate that not only is the U.S. no longer treating Turkey like an ally. It is also taking steps to neutralize the threat Turkey poses to American interests while cultivating a new alliance with the Kurds that will survive Turkey’s current slide into irrelevance and grow stronger in the coming years.

Caroline Glick is a world-renowned journalist and commentator on the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, and the author of The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East. Read more at www.CarolineGlick.com.</s>BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local):

Turkey's top diplomat has announced that a second Turkish soldier has been killed in action in Turkey's military offensive on a Kurdish-held enclave in northern Syria.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter that 1st Lt. Oguz Kaan Usta was killed Tuesday. He said: "We will not leave the blood of our martyrs on the ground and will continue our struggle until we root out terror."

Turkey launched the "Olive Branch" operation against the YPG, a Syrian Kurdish militant group, in Afrin across the Turkish border on Saturday.

First Sgt. Musa Ozalkan, who was killed Monday, was laid to rest in Ankara on Tuesday. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other officials attended the ceremony. Erdogan said, "Our martyr, Musa Ozalkan, is the first martyr in our Afrin operation."

Turkey's official news agency says dozens have been detained across Turkey for alleged terror propaganda on social media regarding a military offensive into a Kurdish-held enclave in northern Syria.

Anadolu Agency tallies show at least 55 people were detained in police operations in multiple provinces Tuesday. They are accused of supporting a Syrian Kurdish militant group through social media posts.

Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish YPG a terror group and an extension of the Kurdish insurgency within its own borders. A military operation codenamed Olive Branch was launched last week to clear YPG from Afrin.

The local president of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party was detained in the western province of Izmir.

More than 30 people were detained Monday on similar charges, including journalists.

Prosecutors may demand that the detained be put under pre-trial arrest or release them.

France's top diplomat is urging Turkey to exercise restraint in Syria, expressing concern about the violent Turkish offensive against a Kurdish enclave.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Tuesday intense fighting between Turkish troops and a U.S.-allied Kurdish militia in recent days is a sign of new conflicts that could erupt in the region as the Islamic State group is defeated.

Le Drian said he told his Turkish counterpart that this offensive "worries us" and said he calls on Turkey "to show the greatest restraint."

Le Drian urged world powers to work together toward a political solution in Syria to so that other simmering conflicts don't explode with the retreat of IS extremists, warning those conflicts could be "just as dramatic."

The Turkish ground and air offensive on Afrin raises tensions in the already-complicated Syrian conflict.

A Kurdish militia spokesman says Turkey has shelled a city in northeastern Syria as Turkish forces press into a Syrian Kurdish enclave for the fourth straight day.

Nureddine Mehmud says Turkey fired on Qamishli and other towns along the Syrian-Turkish border on Tuesday, calling it a diversion from the main campaign by Turkey and allied Syrian militia forces to invade the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, along another part of the frontier.

There were no reported casualties.

Mehmud says forces from the People's Protection Units, or YPG, have held the Turkish forces from making "any real progress" in Afrin.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Monitoring group says at 24 civilians, 24 Kurdish fighters, and 25 Turkish-backed Syrian militiamen have been killed in the clashes in Afrin since Saturday.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Turkey urged the United States on Thursday to halt its support for Kurdish YPG fighters or risk confronting Turkish forces on the ground in Syria, some of Ankara's strongest comments yet about a potential clash with its NATO ally.

The remarks, from the spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan's government, underscored the growing bilateral tensions, six days after Turkey launched its air and ground operation, "Olive Branch," in Syria's northwestern Afrin region.

In Washington, the Pentagon said that it carefully tracked weapons provided to the YPG and would continue discussions with Turkey.

"We carefully track those weapons that are provided to them, we ensure that they, to the maximum extent possible, don't fall into the wrong hands and we're continuing discussions with the Turks on this issue," Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie, joint staff director, told reporters.

McKenzie said Turkey's operation into Afrin was not helpful and was taking focus away from fighting Islamic State.

Turkey's targeting of the YPG, which it views as a security threat, has opened a new front in Syria's multi-sided civil war. The Syrian Kurdish group is a main part of a U.S.-backed rebel alliance that has inflicted recent defeats on Islamic State militants.

Any push by Turkish forces towards Manbij, part of a Kurdish-held territory some 100 km (60 miles) east of Afrin, could threaten U.S. efforts in northeast Syria and bring them into direct confrontation with U.S. troops deployed there.

"Those who support the terrorist organization will become a target in this battle," Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said.

"The United States needs to review its solders and elements giving support to terrorists on the ground in such a way as to avoid a confrontation with Turkey," Bozdag, who also acts as the government's spokesman, told broadcaster A Haber.

The United States has around 2,000 troops in Syria, officially as part of an international, U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State. Washington has angered Ankara by providing arms, training and air support to Syrian Kurdish forces that Turkey views as terrorists.

The Kurdish-led autonomous administration that runs Afrin on Thursday called on the Syrian government to defend its border with Turkey in Afrin despite Damascus' stance against Kurdish autonomy.

"We call on the Syrian state to carry out its sovereign obligations towards Afrin and protect its borders with Turkey from attacks of the Turkish occupier," it said in a statement on its website.

The Syrian government has said it is ready to target Turkish jets in its airspace, but has not intervened so far. It suspects the Kurds of wanting independence in the long-run and does not recognize the autonomous cantons they have set up in northern Syria.

U.S. forces were deployed in and around Manbij to deter Turkish and U.S.-backed rebels from attacking each other and have also carried out training missions in the area.

U.S. President Donald Trump urged Erdogan on Wednesday to curtail the military operation in Syria, the White House said.

However Turkey has disputed that characterisation of the conversation.

Turkey's foreign minister said Erdogan told Trump that U.S. troops should withdraw from Manbij.

Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said she had seen media reports about the comments, but was not aware of any change in U.S. posture.

McKenzie added the United States and Turkey closely coordinated in the region but the United States would also ensure the safety of its troops.

Six days into the campaign, Turkish soldiers and their Free Syrian Army rebel fighter allies have been battling to gain footholds on the western, northern and eastern flanks of Afrin.

They appear to have made only limited gains, hampered by rain and clouds, which have limited the air support.

Turkish warplanes struck the northern borders of Afrin, in tandem with heavy artillery shelling, and one civilian was killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.

Dozens of combatants and more than two dozen civilians have been killed so far in the offensive, the Observatory has said.

The Turkish military said in a statement it had killed 303 militants in northern Syria since the operation started.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a YPG-dominated umbrella group backed by the United States in the fight against Islamic State, has previously said that Turkey was exaggerating the number of the dead.

Relations between Ankara and Washington have neared breaking point recently over U.S. support for the YPG and other issues.

Ankara considers the YPG to be an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade-long insurgency in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast. Washington sees the YPG as an effective partner in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

Turkey said the United States had proposed a 30 km (19 mile) "safe zone" along the border.

"(But) in order for us to discuss the security zone or any other issue with the U.S., we have to reestablish trust," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters.

In Washington, McKenzie said the U.S. and Turkey were continuing talks about a "secure zone" but there had been no final decision.

McKenzie said that he had not yet seen a movement of SDF fighters moving from the Euphrates River Valley to reinforce Afrin or Manbij, but was watching closely.

The Afrin operation has also triggered concern in Germany, another NATO ally, where the caretaker government said it would put on hold any decision on upgrading Turkey's German-made tanks.</s>ANKARA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Turkey would extend its military operation in Syria to the town of Manbij, a move that could potentially bring Turkish forces into confrontation with those of their NATO ally the United States.

Turkey’s air and ground “Operation Olive Branch” in the Afrin region of northern Syria is now in its fifth day, targeting Kurdish YPG fighters and opening a new front in Syria’s multi-sided civil war.

A push towards Manbij, in a separate Kurdish-held enclave some 100 km (60 miles) east of Afrin, could threaten U.S. plans to stabilise a swath of northeast Syria.

The United States has around 2,000 special forces troops in Syria, officially as part of an international U.S.-led coalition, assisting the Kurds in battle against Islamic State.

None of the Americans are known to be based in the Afrin area, but they are deployed in the Kurdish-held pocket that includes Manbij. Washington has angered Turkey by providing arms, training and air support to the Syrian Kurdish forces, which Turkey considers enemies.

“With the Olive Branch operation, we have once again thwarted the game of those sneaky forces whose interests in the region are different,” Erdogan said in a speech to provincial leaders in Ankara.

“Starting in Manbij, we will continue to thwart their game.”

Differences over Syria policy have already strained Turkey’s relations with Washington almost to a breaking point. For the United States, the YPG is a key ally against both Islamic State jihadists and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

A Turkish operation in Manbij would be fraught with risk due to the presence of the U.S. military personnel in and around the town. They were deployed there last March to deter Turkish and U.S.-backed rebels from attacking each other and have also carried out training missions in Manbij.

President Donald Trump plans to raise the U.S. concerns over the Turkish offensive in a telephone call with Erdogan expected on Wednesday, a senior U.S. official said.

In an interview with Reuters, Turkey’s government spokesman said he saw a small possibility that Turkish forces could come face-to-face with the U.S. troops in Manbij.

U.S.-backed Syrian fighters in the Manbij area have deployed to frontlines to confront any Turkish assault and are in contact with the U.S.-led coalition over defending the town, their spokesman Sharfan Darwish said on Wednesday.

“We are in full readiness to respond to any attack.”

Rockets fired from Afrin struck the Turkish border town of Kilis, killing two people, a Syrian and a Turk, and wounding 11 people in the area, the local governor’s office said, the latest in what has been a series of such attacks since the start of the operation.

One of the rockets hit a mosque and the two people who were killed were praying at the time, the statement said.

Dozens of combatants have been killed since Turkey launched its offensive, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria.

Turkish shelling and airstrikes in Afrin have killed 28 civilians, while two civilians were killed as a result of YPG shelling near Azaz, a town held by Turkish-backed opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, the monitoring group said.

Turkey said three of its soldiers had been killed. Observatory head Rami Abdulrahman said 48 Turkey-backed Syrian fighters with Free Syrian Army groups had been killed and that the death toll among the Kurdish YPG so far stood at 42.

The Turkish military said it had killed at least 287 Kurdish fighters and Islamic State militants in the offensive. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) umbrella group led by the Kurdish YPG said there was no Islamic State presence in Afrin and Turkey had exaggerated the number of dead.

Communication between the United States and Turkey has continued over Syria, despite the countries’ differences.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who, he said, had suggested the formation of a “30 km security line” inside Syria, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Turkey has previously sought such buffer zones in parts of Syria near its southern border.

A senior U.S. official said that as of Tuesday the Turks had not been ready to engage in detail on such a proposal.

Bad weather, including heavy rain, has hampered Turkey’s offensive. Heavy clouds have hindered air support, limiting advances, and Kurdish militia have retaken some territory.

Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters have been trying to take the summit of Bursaya Hill, overlooking the eastern approach to Afrin town.

“Turkey has not been able yet to shore up its control over any of the villages it has advanced on,” said the Observatory’s Abdulrahman. He attributed this to fierce resistance from YPG fighters who are from Afrin, and the hilly terrain of the area.

Afrin is separated from Manbij and the rest of the territory held by the Kurdish-led forces by a strip of land held by Assad’s government forces.

In 2016, the Kurdish-led SDF pushed Islamic State fighters out of Manbij. Erdogan has accused the United States of reneging on a promise to ensure that Kurdish fighters would return the town to Arab control.

U.S., British and German volunteers who fought against Islamic State alongside Kurdish-led forces in Syria are also now in the Afrin area to help confront Turkey, the SDF said.

U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has said Turkey’s offensive is distracting from efforts to defeat Islamic State.

The United States has hoped to use the YPG’s control of territory to give it the diplomatic muscle it needs to revive U.N.-led talks in Geneva on a deal that would end Syria’s civil war and eventually lead to Assad’s removal.</s>German government's spokesperson confirmed the report by Spiegel which stated that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel reached an agreement that only a possible new government formed by a coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and and Social Democrats (SPD) should decide on any arms deliveries to Turkey.

"Concerning the current discussions about arms exports, the Federal Government is clear about the fact that Germany can not send arms in conflict areas and is not going to do so," Gabriel told Spiegel.

Suspending of arms deliveries to Turkey is believed to be a move aimed at easing tension in German society, as images of German Leopard tanks being used by the Turkish army in its offensive in Syria are making the German public feel increasingly uncomfortable.

The aim of the Turkish operation in the Syria's North, which continues for the sixth day already, is to eliminate Kurdish groups which Ankara considers to be terrorists, in particular the Kurdish militia YPG (People's Protection Units). However, Germany as well as the US consider the YPG units to be an effective force in fighting Daesh in the region.

READ MORE: Turkish Foreign Minister Expects US to Back Ankara in Syria, 'Not Terrorists'

Ankara's operation, dubbed Olive Branch, started after the US announced it is going to train a 30,000-strong border force at Syria's northern borders, which will largely consist of the Kurdish militias considered to be terrorist organizations by Turkey.

Turkey expressed its resentment over Washington's plans, with President Erdogan vowing to "strangle" the "terrorist army," which the US creates near its borders.

This position echoed the US stance, as Pentagon's spokesman stated that America understands Turkey's legitimate concern over security at its borders.

Russia, in its turn, noted responding to the situation in Syria, that the principle of preserving Syria's territorial integrity and sovereignty is fundamental.</s>BEIRUT — The Turkish attack on the Syrian border town of Afrin, controlled by Kurdish fighters, has been long in coming — Turkish officials have been threatening to launch the offensive and preparing for it for months.

Some Turkish officials have said the main aim is the creation of a (20-mile) deep "secure zone" in Afrin, which Turkey says is essential for its security. Others say the operation aims to oust a militia of between 8,000 to 10,000 fighters affiliated with the People's Protection Units or YPG, a Syrian Kurdish group that has controlled territory in northern Syria and a proven top U.S. ally in fighting the Islamic State group.

TURKISH PRIME MINISTER BINALI YILDRIM said the strikes on Afrin marked the start of a campaign to "eliminate the PYD and PKK and Daesh elements in Afrin," referring to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party and the Kurdistan Worker's Party respectively, and using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

THE FACTS: The Islamic State group is not known to have any presence in Afrin. Turkey has long maintained that it is in Syria to fight both the YPG and the Islamic State group, but its priority has largely been to limit Syrian Kurdish expansion and keep the powerful Kurdish militia from linking up its territory east and west of the Euphrates River. In 2016, Turkey launched a cross-border operation with Syrian opposition forces into Jarablus. That operation cleared the Turkish border and routed much of IS from the area but it also aimed to prevent the YPG from linking the Afrin and Kobani cantons.

In the current offensive, Turkish troops and the Syrian rebels it supports have only been targeting Kurdish fighters. A senior U.S. official says Washington is concerned that Turkey's military offensive in Afrin could distract from the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and could be exploited by extremists to re-supply or create safe havens.

TURKISH DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER BEKIR BOZDAG has told a group of foreign journalists in Istanbul that "700 rockets attacks have taken place on the Turkish side of the border with Syria" in the past few years and that civilians have also been targeted. Other officials have said the aim is to secure Turkey's border and guard against "terror" attacks.

THE FACTS: The YPG is not known to have claimed or actively carried out any terror attacks inside Turkey. However, the Turkish government equates the YPG with the PKK and treats them as a single organization and the PKK has indeed carried out large-scale attacks in inside Turkey. Turkey claims that the PKK takes Afrin as an operating base and from it infiltrates into Turkey.

TURKISH PRESIDENT ERDOGAN said on Wednesday that "this operation will continue until every last member of the terrorist organization who has been equipped over the past few years (by America) with 5,000 trucks and 2,000 aircraft full of weapons is neutralized. We see it as our obligation to cleanse all terrorist organizations."

THE FACTS: While the U.S. has provided training, weapons and logistical support for the YPG and the Syrian Democratic Forces it dominates, that aid is not known to have extended west of the Euphrates to Afrin. Afrin has been a much more problematic Kurdish-controlled area for Washington, because it is a separate entity in western Syria. Turkey had said it will not accept YPG presence west of the Euphrates.

U.S. officials speaking in Ankara on Wednesday said Syrian Kurdish fighters in Afrin are not part of the Kurdish-led SDF, which drove IS from much of northeastern Syria with the help of the U.S.-led coalition. They denied the Turkish government's claims the U.S. had delivered thousands of trucks of weapons to the Syrian Kurdish forces, saying the bulk of the supplies went to U.S. forces and also included ammunition, food and humanitarian supplies.</s>ANKARA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Turkey would extend its military operation in Syria to the town of Manbij, a move that could potentially bring Turkish forces into confrontation with those of their NATO ally the United States.

Turkey’s air and ground “Operation Olive Branch” in the Afrin region of northern Syria is now in its fifth day, targeting Kurdish YPG fighters and opening a new front in Syria’s multi-sided civil war.

A push towards Manbij, in a separate Kurdish-held enclave some 100 km (60 miles) east of Afrin, could threaten U.S. plans to stabilise a swath of northeast Syria.

The United States has around 2,000 special forces troops in Syria, officially as part of an international U.S.-led coalition, assisting the Kurds in battle against Islamic State.

None of the Americans are known to be based in the Afrin area, but they are deployed in the Kurdish-held pocket that includes Manbij. Washington has angered Turkey by providing arms, training and air support to the Syrian Kurdish forces, which Turkey considers enemies.

“With the Olive Branch operation, we have once again thwarted the game of those sneaky forces whose interests in the region are different,” Erdogan said in a speech to provincial leaders in Ankara.

“Starting in Manbij, we will continue to thwart their game.”

Differences over Syria policy have already strained Turkey’s relations with Washington almost to a breaking point. For the United States, the YPG is a key ally against both Islamic State jihadists and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

A Turkish operation in Manbij would be fraught with risk due to the presence of the U.S. military personnel in and around the town. They were deployed there last March to deter Turkish and U.S.-backed rebels from attacking each other and have also carried out training missions in Manbij.

President Donald Trump plans to raise the U.S. concerns over the Turkish offensive in a telephone call with Erdogan expected on Wednesday, a senior U.S. official said.

In an interview with Reuters, Turkey’s government spokesman said he saw a small possibility that Turkish forces could come face-to-face with the U.S. troops in Manbij.

U.S.-backed Syrian fighters in the Manbij area have deployed to frontlines to confront any Turkish assault and are in contact with the U.S.-led coalition over defending the town, their spokesman Sharfan Darwish said on Wednesday.

“We are in full readiness to respond to any attack.”

Rockets fired from Afrin struck the Turkish border town of Kilis, killing two people, a Syrian and a Turk, and wounding 11 people in the area, the local governor’s office said, the latest in what has been a series of such attacks since the start of the operation.

One of the rockets hit a mosque and the two people who were killed were praying at the time, the statement said.

Dozens of combatants have been killed since Turkey launched its offensive, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria.

Turkish shelling and airstrikes in Afrin have killed 28 civilians, while two civilians were killed as a result of YPG shelling near Azaz, a town held by Turkish-backed opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, the monitoring group said.

Turkey said three of its soldiers had been killed. Observatory head Rami Abdulrahman said 48 Turkey-backed Syrian fighters with Free Syrian Army groups had been killed and that the death toll among the Kurdish YPG so far stood at 42.

The Turkish military said it had killed at least 287 Kurdish fighters and Islamic State militants in the offensive. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) umbrella group led by the Kurdish YPG said there was no Islamic State presence in Afrin and Turkey had exaggerated the number of dead.

Communication between the United States and Turkey has continued over Syria, despite the countries’ differences.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who, he said, had suggested the formation of a “30 km security line” inside Syria, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Turkey has previously sought such buffer zones in parts of Syria near its southern border.

A senior U.S. official said that as of Tuesday the Turks had not been ready to engage in detail on such a proposal.

Bad weather, including heavy rain, has hampered Turkey’s offensive. Heavy clouds have hindered air support, limiting advances, and Kurdish militia have retaken some territory.

Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters have been trying to take the summit of Bursaya Hill, overlooking the eastern approach to Afrin town.

“Turkey has not been able yet to shore up its control over any of the villages it has advanced on,” said the Observatory’s Abdulrahman. He attributed this to fierce resistance from YPG fighters who are from Afrin, and the hilly terrain of the area.

Afrin is separated from Manbij and the rest of the territory held by the Kurdish-led forces by a strip of land held by Assad’s government forces.

In 2016, the Kurdish-led SDF pushed Islamic State fighters out of Manbij. Erdogan has accused the United States of reneging on a promise to ensure that Kurdish fighters would return the town to Arab control.

U.S., British and German volunteers who fought against Islamic State alongside Kurdish-led forces in Syria are also now in the Afrin area to help confront Turkey, the SDF said.

U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has said Turkey’s offensive is distracting from efforts to defeat Islamic State.

The United States has hoped to use the YPG’s control of territory to give it the diplomatic muscle it needs to revive U.N.-led talks in Geneva on a deal that would end Syria’s civil war and eventually lead to Assad’s removal.</s>The Turkish attack on the Syrian border town of Afrin, controlled by Kurdish fighters, has been long in coming — Turkish officials have been threatening to launch the offensive and preparing for it for months.

However, Ankara's stated strategic goals for the operation codenamed Operation Olive Branch come with a great deal of bluster and little clarity.

Some Turkish officials have said the main aim is the creation of a 30-kilometer (20-mile) deep "secure zone" in Afrin, which Turkey says is essential for its security. Others say the operation aims to oust a militia of between 8,000 to 10,000 fighters affiliated with the People's Protection Units or YPG, a Syrian Kurdish group that has controlled territory in northern Syria and a proven top U.S. ally in fighting the Islamic State group.

Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization and an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey.

On Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey's concern was to facilitate the return of 3.5 million Syrians who live in Turkey to their country. The shifting goals reflect Turkey's own evolving involvement in Syria's civil war.

Here's a look at some of the recent remarks by Turkish officials on the goals and extent of the Afrin offensive:

TURKISH PRIME MINISTER BINALI YILDRIM said the strikes on Afrin marked the start of a campaign to "eliminate the PYD and PKK and Daesh elements in Afrin," referring to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party and the Kurdistan Worker's Party respectively, and using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

THE FACTS: The Islamic State group is not known to have any presence in Afrin. Turkey has long maintained that it is in Syria to fight both the YPG and the Islamic State group, but its priority has largely been to limit Syrian Kurdish expansion and keep the powerful Kurdish militia from linking up its territory east and west of the Euphrates River. In 2016, Turkey launched a cross-border operation with Syrian opposition forces into Jarablus. That operation cleared the Turkish border and routed much of IS from the area but it also aimed to prevent the YPG from linking the Afrin and Kobani cantons.

In the current offensive, Turkish troops and the Syrian rebels it supports have only been targeting Kurdish fighters. A senior U.S. official says Washington is concerned that Turkey's military offensive in Afrin could distract from the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and could be exploited by extremists to re-supply or create safe havens.

TURKISH DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER BEKIR BOZDAG has told a group of foreign journalists in Istanbul that "700 rockets attacks have taken place on the Turkish side of the border with Syria" in the past few years and that civilians have also been targeted. Other officials have said the aim is to secure Turkey's border and guard against "terror" attacks.

THE FACTS: The YPG is not known to have claimed or actively carried out any terror attacks inside Turkey. However, the Turkish government equates the YPG with the PKK and treats them as a single organization and the PKK has indeed carried out large-scale attacks in inside Turkey. Turkey claims that the PKK takes Afrin as an operating base and from it infiltrates into Turkey.

TURKISH PRESIDENT ERDOGAN said on Wednesday that "this operation will continue until every last member of the terrorist organization who has been equipped over the past few years (by America) with 5,000 trucks and 2,000 aircraft full of weapons is neutralized. We see it as our obligation to cleanse all terrorist organizations."

THE FACTS: While the U.S. has provided training, weapons and logistical support for the YPG and the Syrian Democratic Forces it dominates, that aid is not known to have extended west of the Euphrates to Afrin. Afrin has been a much more problematic Kurdish-controlled area for Washington, because it is a separate entity in western Syria. Turkey had said it will not accept YPG presence west of the Euphrates.

U.S. officials speaking in Ankara on Wednesday said Syrian Kurdish fighters in Afrin are not part of the Kurdish-led SDF, which drove IS from much of northeastern Syria with the help of the U.S.-led coalition. They denied the Turkish government's claims the U.S. had delivered thousands of trucks of weapons to the Syrian Kurdish forces, saying the bulk of the supplies went to U.S. forces and also included ammunition, food and humanitarian supplies.

The American officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
British, American and German men are among a group of international volunteers who travelled to Afrin to fight against Turkish-led forces in north-west Syria.