Turkish artillery forces have started a third day of military strikes against US-backed Kurdish militants in Syria.
However, Kurdish YPG militia responded with an anti-tank guided missile aimed at a Turkish Leopard tank as the Turkish Army advanced toward Afrin in an offensive against the Kurdish forces.
In a single day, Kurdish fighters destroyed five Turkish tanks in the Afrin area. The USA provided MANPADS to Syrian Kurds as Part of Secret Deal.
Turkey deployed its troops to northern Syria in August 2016 without approval from Damascus, under the pretext of fighting the Takfiri terror group of ISIS. The operation, named Euphrates Shield, however, was later seen turning its focus on the Kurds.
The operation ended last March, but Turkey recently redeployed its forces after the United States announced a plan to set up a new 30,000-strong “border security” force, including the Kurdish militants, near the Turkish border.
Turkey has been re-mobilizing troops and tanks at its border and vowed to “eradicate” the “threat” from the Kurdish militants in a ground operation in Afrin. Erdogan vows Turkish troops will crush YPG militants in Syria.
Turkey associates the Kurds with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has been engaged in an armed conflict against Ankara for decades. The US Unilateral Actions in Syria Provoked Turkey in to Fury.
PressTV.com / AA Magnum Analyst Blog Site News 2018.
