Earlier in the day, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Syrian Kurdish forces will become a target for the Turkish forces in northern Syria unless they move east of Euphrates.
"Monitoring reports of airstrikes & clashes south of #Jarabuls b/w Turkish forces, some opposition groups, & units affiliated with #SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces].We want to make clear that we find these clashes — in areas where #ISIL [IS] is not located — unacceptable and a source of deep concern. The United States was not involved in these activities, they were not coordinated with U.S. forces, and we do not support them," McGurk said on Twitter citing the Pentagon spokesman.
DOD: Monitoring reports of airstrikes & clashes south of #Jarabuls b/w Turkish forces, some opposition groups, & units affiliated with #SDF.
— Brett McGurk (@brett_mcgurk) August 29, 2016
DOD: We want to make clear that we find these clashes — in areas where #ISIL is not located — unacceptable and a source of deep concern.
— Brett McGurk (@brett_mcgurk) August 29, 2016
DOD: The United States was not involved in these activities, they were not coordinated with U.S. forces, and we do not support them.
— Brett McGurk (@brett_mcgurk) August 29, 2016
Ankara announced on Wednesday that Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, had begun a military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield with the stated aim of clearing the Syrian border town of Jarabulus of the Islamic State jihadist group, outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
On Thursday, the Daesh extremists left the town, however tensions between Kurdish armed groups affiliated with the SDF have persisted.
The SDF is a US-backed coalition of mainly Kurdish and Arab fighters formed in 2015 that includes the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPD), outlawed in Turkey. The SDF is focused primarily on fighting the Daesh group, which is outlawed in Russia and the United States as well as many other countries worldwide.
