- Title: Turkish tanks arrive at Syrian border as ground offensive begins
- Date: 9th October 2019
- Summary: AKCAKALE, TURKEY (OCTOBER 9, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TURKISH SOLDIERS DETACHING TANKS FROM TOW TRUCK SOLDIER INSIDE TANK GIVING THUMB-UP VARIOUS OF ANOTHER SOLDIER DIRECTING TANK DRIVING BACKWARDS VARIOUS OF ARMOURED MILITARY VEHICLES DRIVING TO BORDER VARIOUS OF TURKISH-SYRIAN BORDER, THICK SMOKE SEEN BILLOWING FROM SYRIAN SIDE
- Embargoed: 23rd October 2019 20:28
- Keywords: Turkey Syria military operation Syrian border Operation Peace Spring
- Location: AKCAKALE, TURKEY
- City: AKCAKALE, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0DO85J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Turkish tanks arrived at the Syrian border on Wednesday (October 9) afternoon as Turkey started a ground operation in northern Syria through the east of Euphrates river.
Earlier on Wednesday, Turkey attacked Kurdish militia positions in northeast Syria, pounding them with air strikes and artillery barrages in a cross-border military operation just days after U.S. troops pulled back from the area.
Reuters journalists on the Turkish side of the frontier watched as explosions struck the Syrian town of Tel Abyad. After dark, the red flare of rockets could be seen fired across the border into Tel Abyad, and flames burned near the town.
The assault on the Kurds - for years Washington's main allies on the ground in Syria - is potentially one of the biggest shifts in an eight-year war that has drawn in global and regional powers. The Kurds played a leading role in capturing territory from Islamic State, and now hold the largest swathe of Syria outside of Bashar al-Assad's government's hands.
U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull forces out of the way was denounced by some Kurds as a "stab in the back" and strongly criticized in Washington, even by loyal senior figures in his own Republican Party.
Trump called the Turkish assault a "bad idea" and said he did not endorse it. He expected Turkey to protect civilians and religious minorities and prevent a humanitarian crisis, he said.
(Production: Omer Berberoglu) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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