Turkey deploys more troops to border as operation deepens

Record ID: 1435811

  • Title: Turkey deploys more troops to border as operation deepens
  • Date: 9th October 2019
  • Summary: AKCAKALE, TURKEY (OCTOBER 9, 2019) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) TOW TRUCK CARRYING MILITARY VEHICLE DRIVING ON ROAD ARMORED MILITARY CONVOY DRIVING ALONG THE BORDER WITH SYRIA VARIOUS OF MILITARY CONVOY ON ROAD
  • Embargoed: 23rd October 2019 22:48
  • Keywords: Turkey Syria military operation Syrian border Operation Peace Spring
  • Location: AKCAKALE, TURKEY, UNKNOWN LOCATION
  • City: AKCAKALE, TURKEY, UNKNOWN LOCATION
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B0DOJ7R
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Turkey dispatched more troops on its border with Syria on Wednesday night (October 9) after launching "Operation Peace Spring" against YPG militants in northern Syria.
    On Wednesday night, the Turkish army said it has hit a total of 181 militant targets with air strikes and howitzers since the start of operation into northeast Syria.
    The assault on the Kurds - for years Washington's main allies on the ground in Syria - is potentially one of the biggest shifts in years 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.
    European countries called on Ankara to halt the operation and Egypt denounced "a blatant and unacceptable attack on a brotherly Arab state."
    Turkey had been poised to enter northeast Syria since the U.S. troops who had been fighting alongside Kurdish-led forces against Islamic State started to leave.
    (Production: Deniz Uyar)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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