|
Battle for Mosul: Why Turkey Is Bombing Anti-ISIS Fighters in Iraq, Syria
[NBC] Turkey is a NATO partner that stands with U.S. troops on the battlefields of Syria and Iraq, but it's an ally that's increasingly turning its guns on fighters the U.S. sees as vital to crushing ISIS.On Wednesday, Turkey launched one of its biggest airstrikes in decades -- bombing 18 positions in northern Syria and killing an estimated 200 fighters. But the strikes north of Aleppo didn't involve President Bashar al-Assad's army, or any of the main groups fighting his government like the Free Syrian Army, the Jihadi militia Jabhat Fatah al Sham, or even ISIS. Instead, Turkey bombed People's Protection Units, or YPG -- Kurdish militia the U.S. considers the most effective force against ISIS in Syria. Turkey has sent 2,000 troops into Iraq, where they are watching the massive military operation aimed at recapturing Mosul from the extremists. Baghdad maintains Turkey has violated its sovereignty and on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for an ex-Mosul governor who allegedly "invited" in the troops. These latest in a series of military moves reveal how the government of President Tayyip Erdogan is reasserting its historic territorial claims while also trying to crush the country's mortal enemies -- Kurdish separatists. Ankara has fought ethnic Kurdish militias within its borders for decades to prevent the birth of a new country, Kurdistan, carved out of Turkey itself. So it has watched carefully as YPG fighters secure large swaths of land along the Syrian-Turkish border. Con't. Posted by: Besoeker 2016-10-24 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=471150 |