Turkey has launched an attack on a US-backed Kurdish militia operating in northwestern Syria after President Erdogan vowed to “tear down” the group’s border strongholds.
Convoys of Turkish tanks are lining up outside Afrin, a small island of territory in Idlib province controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Ahead of an all-out assault, the Turkish army is pounding the area with artillery from its positions inside Idlib. “Our preparations have been completed. The operation could start at any time, and then will come the turn of other regions,” said Mr Erdogan.
The implicit threat against not just Afrin but the swathe of northern Syria controlled by the Kurds — with US military support — could bring two Nato allies into armed confrontation. The
