Syrian
opposition fighters were also part of the cross-border incursion, which was
reported by both Turkish state media and Syrian opposition activists.
Turkey said
its intention was to clear the town of Jarablus, located right across the
border from Turkey, from IS militants. But Turkey is also concerned about the
growing power of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, who it says are linked to
Kurdish groups waging an insurgency in southeastern Turkey.
Wednesday's
operation puts Turkey on track for a confrontation with the Kurdish fighters in
Syria, where the civil war is now in its sixth year.
A senior
official with Syria's largest Kurdish group suggested Turkey will pay the
price. Saleh Muslim, the co-president of the Democratic Union Party or PYD,
tweeted that "Turkey is in Syrian Quagmire. Will be defeated as
Daesh" will be. He use the Arabic language acronym for IS.
The state-run
Anadolu Agency, citing unnamed military officials, said tanks crossed into
Syria but didn't provide details. The private NTV television said as many as 20
tanks crossed the border and that clashes were underway. Earlier Wednesday, NTV
said a small number of Turkish special forces had crossed into Syria as part of
the operation.
NTV described
it as an "intruder mission" meant to carry out "pinpoint
operations" against IS to clear Jarablus of the extremists.
Turkish Prime
Minister Binali Yildirim's office said the operation, carried out by Turkish
and U.S.-backed coalition forces, began at 4 a.m. (0100 GMT), with Turkish
artillery launching intense cross-border fire on Jarablus, followed by Turkish
warplanes bombing IS targets in the town, Anadolu said.
The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group that monitors the
civil war, said Syrian rebels who were amassed at the Turkish border crossed
into Syria, preceded by Turkish tanks and mine sweepers. The Britain-based
group didn't say how many fighters were involved. On Tuesday, it said that
around 500 rebels were waiting to cross into Syria.
Turkish state
media said rebels entered 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) deep in the direction of
Jarablus. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the operation is directed
against terror organizations like IS and the PYD, the largest Syrian Kurdish
group.
Just a few
hours after the operation started, Vice President Joe Biden landed in Ankara
for talks that include developments in Syria.
Biden's visit
comes at a difficult time for ties between the two NATO allies — Turkey is
demanding that Washington quickly extradite a U.S.-based cleric blamed for
orchestrating last month's failed coup while the United States is asking for
evidence against the cleric and that Turkey allow the extradition process to
take its course.
Turkish
Interior Minister Efkan Ala said the Jarablus operation meant to safeguard
Turkey's security and that Ankara "cannot sit and watch."
"It is
Turkey's legal right, it is within its authority" to take action, the
minister said, adding that Wednesday's operation was being carried out in
coordination with the U.S.-led coalition forces.
Turkey's
Hurriyet newspaper quoted Turkish sources as saying Turkish Howitzers and
rocket launchers had fired 224 rounds at 63 targets within an hour and 45
minutes, and that the Turkish air raids started just after 6 a.m.
Turkey had
declared the border area a "special security zone," and asked
journalists not to try access it, citing safety concerns and threats posed by
the IS.
On Tuesday,
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlet Cavusoglu's pledged "every kind" of
support for operations against IS along a 100-kilometer (62-mile) stretch of
Syrian frontier. He said Turkey would support twin operations stretching from
the Syrian town of Afrin in the northwest, already controlled by Kurdish
forces, to Jarablus, in the central north, held by the Islamic State group.
Jarablus lies
on the western bank of the Euphrates River where it crosses from Turkey into
Syria and is one of the last important IS-held towns standing between
Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria. Taking control of Jarablus and the
IS-held town of al-Bab to the south would be a significant step toward linking
up border areas under Kurdish control east and west of the Euphrates.
In recent
days, Turkey increased security measures on its border with Syria, deploying tanks
and armored personnel carriers. On Tuesday, residents of the Turkish town of
Karkamis, across the border from Jarablus, were told to evacuate after three
mortars believed to be fired by IS militants landed there, Turkey's Dogan news
agency said.
Turkey has
vowed to fight IS militants at home and to "cleanse" the group from
its borders after a weekend suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding in southern
Turkey killed at least 54 people, many of them children. Turkish officials have
blamed IS for the attack.
Ankara is also
concerned about the growing power of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, who it
says are linked to Kurdish groups waging an insurgency in southeastern Turkey.
The
Kurdish-led group known as the Syria Democratic Forces, or SDF, recaptured the
town of Manbij from IS earlier this month, triggering concerns in Ankara that
Kurdish forces would seize the entire border strip with Turkey. The U.S. says
it has embedded some 300 special forces with the SDF, and British special
forces have also been spotted advising the group.
The Kurds'
outsized role in the Syrian civil war is a source of concern for the Syrian
government as well. Fierce clashes erupted between the two sides over control
of the northeastern province of Hasakeh last week, and Syrian warplanes bombed
Kurdish positions for the first time, prompting the U.S. to scramble its jets
to protect American troops in the area.
The Syrian
government and the Kurds agreed on a cease-fire Tuesday, six days after the
clashes erupted. The Kurdish Hawar News Agency said government forces agreed to
withdraw from Hasakeh as part of the truce.
Syrian state
media did not mention any withdrawal, saying only that the two sides had agreed
to evacuate the wounded and exchange detainees. Government and Kurdish forces
have shared control of Hasakeh since the early years of the Syrian war.
Source: Fox news
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