Turkey starts ground incursion into Kurdish-controlled Afrin in Syria

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Turkey starts ground incursion into Kurdish-controlled Afrin in Syria

Move follows intense aerial bombardment of enclave, with Kurdish militias shelling Turkish border province in response

Kareem Shaheen in Istanbul
Sun 21 Jan 2018 11.20 GMT

Turkey said it had begun a ground incursion into the Kurdish enclave in Syria known as Afrin a day after intense aerial bombardment that signalled the opening of hostilities in a new phase of Ankara’s involvement in the war across the border.

The launch of the ground campaign by the Turkish military on Sunday, alongside Syrian rebel factions under Ankara’s tutelage, came on the second day of a military offensive called “Operation Olive Branch” by the Turkish government, with dozens of airstrikes hitting more than 150 targets in the Kurdish-dominated district from late on Saturday afternoon.

Kurdish militias shelled the Turkish province of Kilis across the border in response. A spokesman for the Kurdish militias that control the district said they had blocked the Turkish army-led initial attempt at a ground incursion on Sunday morning.

“The Turkish army and its Syrian agent factions have not entered one inch of Afrin district inside Syria,” the spokesman claimed.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/21/turkey-starts-ground-incursion-into-kurdish-controlled-afrin-in-syria

[Prue]

1. What's NATO's move........

I'm curious to see what NATO will do in this situation with Russia and the US having opposing views and support. The gov't shut down is sucking all the air out of the room and you don't see this story being reported via news outlets. We should all be watching how this plays out.

[greytdemocrat]

2. Yeah

This could be big trouble

[NCDem777]

3. Turkey is on the side of ISIS