BERUIT: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says an operation to implement a “de-escalation” zone in Syria’s northern Idlib province is “to a great extent complete.”
Addressing legislators from his ruling party in parliament on Tuesday, Erdogan suggested that Turkish troops could now target Syria’s border region of Afrin, which is controlled by Syrian Kurdish groups. Turkey considers the Syrian militia to be terrorists because of their links to Kurdish rebels fighting Turkey.
“We have the issue of Afrin ahead of us,” Erdogan said. “We cannot make any concessions. As we have said before, we may arrive suddenly one night; we may hit (them) suddenly one night.”
Turkey sent troops into Syria earlier this month to set up “observation posts” in the border province that is dominated by al-Qaida linked militants as part of a deal reached with Russia and Iran.
Syria’s state TV says warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group have bombed a government-controlled neighborhood in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour killing 14 civilians.
U.S. military spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon denied the report in a tweet saying that the coalition has not bombed the city, of which IS currently controls a small part, since September.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a Monday night airstrike killed 22, adding that the identity of the warplanes was not immediately clear.
Syrian troops have been marching against IS in eastern Syria under the cover of Russian airstrikes.
Last year, the U.S.-led coalition bombed Syrian army positions near the city of Deir el-Zour killing at least 62 Syrian soldiers and leaving more than a 100 wounded.
