ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Turkish military has launched cross-border artillery strikes targeting both Islamic State (ISIS) militants in the Syrian border-town of Jarablus and the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) north of Manbij.
Turkish officials told Reuters that Monday’s attack saw the Turks hit YPG positions 20 times with their artillery.
The attacks come shortly after it was revealed several Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups are in Turkey preparing to assault ISIS in Jarablus. They also come after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu vowed on Sunday to wipe out all of Turkey’s enemies.
Turkey has long opposed the YPG marching into Jarablus against ISIS since they do not want these forces controlling more of Syria’s border with Turkey. Turkish artillery has attacked YPG positions before, to stop a YPG advance into Azaz last February. It has also struck ISIS on multiple occasions since January, in retaliation for the militant group’s mortar attacks on the Turkish border-town of Kilis.
Ankara’s recent decision to push ISIS out of Jarablus comes just over a week after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), of which the YPG is the largest group, captured Manbij from ISIS. This has put them closer to the Turkish border and may have motivated Turkey to take more steps to push ISIS away from its border to create a buffer between it and these forces.
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