Istanbul
\nTurkish air attacks in northern Syria threaten the safety of United States military personnel and the escalating situation is jeopardising years of progress against ISIL (ISIS) fighters, the Pentagon has said.
\nThe public comments on Wednesday represent the strongest condemnation by the US of NATO ally Turkey\u2019s air operations in recent days against Kurdish-led YPG (People\u2019s Protection Units) forces in northern Syria to date.
\n\u201cRecent air strikes in Syria directly threatened the safety of U.S. personnel who are working in Syria with local partners to defeat ISIS and maintain custody of more than ten thousand ISIS detainees,\u201d the Pentagon\u2019s spokesman, Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder, said in a statement.
\nRyder said the escalating situation threatened the progress made in the fight against ISIL fighters in the region.
\nHe added that the US recognises Turkey\u2019s \u201clegitimate security concerns\u201d.
\n\u201cImmediate de-escalation is necessary in order to maintain focus on the defeat-ISIS mission and ensure the safety and security of personnel on the ground committed to the defeat-ISIS mission,\u201d Ryder added.
\nThe comments from the US official come after Russia also warned against a Turkish ground operation in Syria.
\nThe US has roughly 900 soldiers in Syria, mainly in the northeast of the country, who work with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is led by the YPG, to fight against ISIL remnants.
\nTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey\u2019s air operations were only the beginning and that it would launch a land operation when convenient after an escalation in retaliatory strikes.
\nAnkara launched air operations at the weekend in retaliation for an Istanbul bomb attack a week earlier that killed six people, and which it blamed on the Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK) and the YPG. Nobody has claimed responsibility and the PKK and YPG have denied involvement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Istanbul Turkish air attacks in northern Syria threaten the safety of United States military personnel and the escalating situation is jeopardising years of progress against ISIL (ISIS) fighters, the Pentagon has said. The public comments on Wednesday represent the strongest condemnation by the US of NATO ally Turkey\u2019s air operations in recent days against Kurdish-led […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11541,5886,1428,11542,444],"class_list":{"0":"post-297248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-leadpakistan","9":"tag-pentagon","10":"tag-syria","11":"tag-turkish-air-attacks","12":"tag-us"},"yoast_head":"\n