Turkish jets struck Kurdish militia observation posts Saturday in the Syrian town of Afrin, signaling the start of a military invasion to oust the fighters, Turkey’s state-run news reported.
Explosions were heard as jets swooped over Afrin, and Turkish-backed rebels from the Free Syrian Army began entering the town, according to Anadolu Agency, Turkey’s state-run media outlet.
Afrin is under the control of the People’s Protection Units — the largely Kurdish militia known as the YPG and regarded by Turkey as a terror group. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed the air operation to eliminate the group.
Earlier Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the military offensive is in its early phase. He said forces will next move on the Syrian town of Manbij farther east on the Turkish border.
“We know that without security in Syria, there cannot be security in Turkey,” Erdogan told members of his ruling party in Kutahya.
Ankara, which has long fought Kurdish unrest in southeastern Turkey and staunchly opposes the encroachment of a sovereign state on its territory, is determined to prevent the establishment of a Kurdish state across the border in Syria. It has used military force in the past against Kurds and ISIS in northern Syria.
Launching a new operation targeting Kurdish fighters could open up a new frontier in the Syrian conflict, which has lasted for nearly seven years. It would also sharpen tensions between Turkey and the United States, which supports and now openly arms Kurdish militias fighting ISIS.
Washington has been concerned about a Turkish military incursion and has called on Ankara to refrain from launching one. “The focus needs to be on ISIS,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said this week.
Turkish forces, which is calling the undertaking Operation Olive Branch, said it is targeting ISIS as well as Kurdish militia.
Turkish incursion had been expected in Afrin
Turkish-backed fighters from the Free Syrian Army were battling Kurdish militia members recently in Afrin, and a full cross-border Turkish military incursion had been expected.
More than 50 Turkish vehicles, including artillery, tanks, rocket launchers and heavy equipment transporters, had been observed on the Turkish-Syrian border, a US defense official said Friday.
Turkish state-run media suggested that the new operation would involve airstrikes from warplanes and drones, and that Turkish-trained militia from the Free Syrian Army alliance would be first on the ground in any land offensives.
US-trained border force in Manbij
Manbij is in an area where a 30,000-strong US-trained border force from the Syrian Democratic Forces, dominated by YPG fighters, is to be trained. Turkish-backed rebels and US forces have been trading fire there, US defense officials said.
The announcement of a border force infuriated Turkey’s leaders, and Erdogan has accused the United States, its most powerful NATO ally, of “building an army of terror” on his border and threatened to “drown” the US-backed force.
Turkey regards the YPG as the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, despite the group’s help in battling ISIS.
The PKK is an outlawed Kurdish group responsible for major terror attacks in Turkey as part of its bid for national ethnic autonomy. The European Union and United States have both named the PKK as a terrorist outfit.
“By changing the name of a terrorist organization that is playing games in Syria, they think (they) are being smart. Who do you think you are fooling? The name of this organization is PKK, PYD, YPG,” Erdogan said Saturday.
“No matter what they say, we don’t care anymore because we look at what is happening in the field.”