Turkey vows to expand Syria offensive east to Iraqi border

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is vowing to expand Ankara's operation in a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria eastward, toward the frontier with Iraq.

The announcement came as Erdogan spoke on Friday to his ruling-party officials in the capital, Ankara.

Erdogan says the push into Afrin would stretch to the Syrian Kurdish town of Manbij and toward the border with Iraq, "until no terrorist is left."

Manbij is held by the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia, which Turkey considers a terrorist group and an extension of its own insurgent group.

Pushing into Manbj would put Turkish troops in proximity to American soldiers there.

Erdogan again slammed the United States, a NATO ally, for backing the Kurdish group, saying: "how can a strategic partner do such a thing to its strategic partner?"

Source: https://in.news.yahoo.com/turkeys-erdogan-vows-expand-offensive-inside-syria-100946396.html