US condemns clashes
Turkey yesterday warned it would carry out more strikes on a Syrian Kurdish militia if it failed to retreat beyond the Euphrates River, as Washington condemned their weekend clashes as "unacceptable".
Turkish forces pressed on with a two-pronged operation inside Syria against Islamic State (IS) jihadists and the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), shelling over a dozen targets.
But strikes against the YPG are hugely sensitive as the Kurdish group -- seen as a terror group by Ankara -- is allied with Turkey's Nato partner, the United States, in the fight against IS in Syria.
The Pentagon called the clashes "unacceptable" and urged an immediate de-escalation.
In a statement sent to AFP, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook condemned the fighting south of the Syrian town of Jarabulus.
"We are closely monitoring reports of clashes south of Jarabulus -- where ISIL is no longer located -- between the Turkish armed forces, some opposition groups, and units that are affiliated with the SDF (Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces)," he said.
Meanwhile, Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq yesterday, state media said.
Turkish air force jets launched strikes between 09:30 and 10:55 GMT against targets of the "separatist terrorist organisation" in Gara in northern Iraq, Anadolu news agency said, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The targets were "destroyed", Anadolu added.
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