Turkish troops now face fierce battles in Syrian Kurdish enclave

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Intense clashes erupted on Monday as Turkish troops and their allies advanced on a Kurdish enclave in Syria, the third day of the Ankara offensive aimed at ousting the US-backed Kurdish militia from the area.

The Turkish offensive on Afrin, code-named Operation Olive Branch, started on Saturday, heightening tensions in the already complicated Syrian conflict and threatening to further strain ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States. Turkey said it aims to create a 30-kilometer deep "secure zone" in Afrin.

At least 18 civilians have been killed in the campaign in Afrin, monitors said on Sunday.

The UN Security Council was to convene later on Monday to discuss the situation in Syria.

A NATO statement on Monday said it has been in touch with Turkey over the developing offensive. NATO said Turkey has suffered from terrorism and has the right to self-defense but urged Ankara to do so in a "proportionate and measured way".

NATO also said it has no presence in Syria but that as members of the coalition against Islamic State extremists, "our focus is on the defeat" of the terror group.

The US-backed Kurdish militia said it has repelled Turkish troops and their Syrian allies from Shinkal and Adah Manli, two villages they seized a day earlier in Afrin, the northwestern Syrian district that straddles the Turkish border.

The militia said the Turkey-backed forces have opened a new front, pushing their way into two other villages in the district's north. The militia said they are fighting to push back the advancing troops in Balia and Qarna.

Observers said the Syrian Kurdish militia waged a ferocious counteroffensive late on Sunday, repelling the Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters from the two villages they briefly captured. They said Turkey-backed troops were attempting once again to enter Afrin.

The Kurdish militia, known as People's Defense Units or YPG, said it was clashing on Monday with the Turkish troops northwest of Afrin.

Turkey considers the YPG a terror organization because of its affiliation to its own Kurdish insurgency. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to expand the operation. The militia formed the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces, US' ally in Syria.

Iranian Foreign Ministry on Sunday urged Turkey to protect the territorial integrity of Syria and respect the national sovereignty of the Arab state as Ankara launched the land operation.

Teheran hopes Ankara will end the operation "immediately" to prevent escalation of a crisis in the border regions of the two neighbors, Irnainan Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.

Ap - Xinhua

(China Daily 01/23/2018 page12)