Category: World News
- Thursday, 13 December 2018 10:23
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BREAKING NEWS 10:18 AM EST —
Minutes ago, the Turkish Army began heavily shelling the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the northern countryside of the Aleppo Governorate in Syria.
This comes TWELVE HOURS after I spoke about this issue on my radio show last night; wherein I alerted the public that Turk President Recypt Erdogan may be switching sides and said he will commence attacks upon the US-backed Kurds in Syria “soon.”
According to the nearby Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the Turkish military has been heavily shelling the YPG’s positions at the town of Tal Rifa’at.
The Syrian Arab Army said they are on high alert now because the Turkish Army shells were landing near their positions in the Tal Rifa’at countryside.
The Pentagon said yesterday that any such attack would be deemed “unacceptable” by the US because US troops are embedded with Kurds in numerous places inside Syria, battling ISIS terrorists.
This situation has ‘DISASTER” written all over it.
More details to come…
UPDATE 10:49 AM EST —
The Turkish military has mobilized 14,000 Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters for the NOW-COMMENCED operation east of the Euphrates.
“The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) ordered the Free Syrian Army (FSA) three days ago to prepare 14,000 troops for an operation targeting the east of Syria’s Euphrates River.”
On Wednesday, the Turkish military sent at least 30 armored personnel carriers to the province of Kilis; they were deployed to the Syrian border that is currently controlled by the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG).
The main objective of this Turkish military operation in northern Syria is to expel the YPG and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from several border towns. The problem with this is simple: The YPG is US-Backed.
So we are now in a situation where one NATO country (Turkey) is attacking the allies of another NATO Country (USA) in Syria.
INSIDE INFO: the Pentagon has told Turkey this offensive must cease immediately because US troops are embedded with YPG fighters while both the US and YPG battle ISIS.
US troops are authorized to shoot back if they are fired upon and I am told that right now, THEY ARE SHOOTING BACK when a Turk shell lands near them.
Among the expected targets of this Turkish operation are the towns of Manbij, Kobane (var. ‘Ayn Al-‘Arab), and Tal Al-Abyad – all of which have US troops accompanying YPG fighters.
UPDATE 11:10 AM EST —
Direct to me via email from the Pentagon:
Unilateral military action into northeast Syria by any party, particularly as U.S. personnel may be present or in the vicinity, is of grave concern. We would find any such actions unacceptable.
Coordination and consultation between the U.S. and Turkey is the only approach to address issues of security concern in this area. We are committed to working closely and recently held a High Level Working Group on Syria with our Turkish partners precisely to enhance our cooperation, coordination, and consultation.
We believe this dialogue is the only way to secure the border area in a sustainable manner, and believe that uncoordinated military operations will undermine that shared interest.
Turkey is a NATO Ally for over six decades and a key partner in the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. We have solemn obligations to one another’s security. We are fully committed to Turkey’s border security.
The campaign against ISIS is not over. Coalition forces are working closely with the Syrian Democratic Forces who are in the midst of offensive operations against ISIS in the Middle Euphrates River Valley. The SDF remains a committed partner against ISIS and we remain committed to working with them to ensure ISIS’s enduring defeat.
We should not and cannot allow ISIS to breathe at this critical point or we will jeopardize the significant gains we have made alongside our Coalition partners and risk allowing ISIS to resurge.
UPDATE 3:40 PM EST —
YPG returned fire from Tell Rifat towards Turkish soldiers in Afrin. 1 Turkish soldier confirmed killed; report of second Turkish soldier also dead.
