US calls for calm over Turkish bombings of areas in Syria

Nicholas Grainger, a senior US official in northeast Syria, called for an “immediate de-escalation” after days of airstrikes and deadly shelling on the Syrian-Turkish border.

Nicholas Granger, who is currently in Syria, said: “Washington strongly opposes military action that further destabilizes communities and families in Syria, and we want to defuse the escalation immediately.”

He added: “The events that are taking place are unacceptably dangerous and we are very concerned,” noting that the raids “are also endangering US military personnel.”

This week, Turkey launched a series of airstrikes against suspected Kurdish rebels hiding in neighboring Syria and Iraq in retaliation for the deadly November 13 bombing in Istanbul that Turkey blamed on Kurdish groups, while the groups denied involvement in the bombing, affirming Turkish raids have killed civilians and threatened to fight ISIS.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on Friday that Turkey will continue to “fight all types of terrorism inside and outside our borders.”

It should be noted that Turkey and the United States consider the PKK a banned terrorist group, but they disagree on the status of the main Kurdish militia in Syria, the YPG, which is considered an important ally of the United States. States in the fight against ISIS.

Turkey has launched three major incursions into northern Syria since 2016 and its forces still control part of the country.

Kurdish officials in Syria have warned that any new Turkish incursion would undermine the fight against ISIS.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Siamand Ali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, said: “We are taking these threats seriously and are preparing to counter any ground attack.”

Source: “AB”

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