PHOTO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promises assault to capture al-Bab, the major position of the Islamic State in Aleppo Province
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Turkey said on Wednesday that it will continue support for a rebel offensive in northern Syria, despite a warning from the Assad regime and a helicopter attack on the rebels.
The offensive is moving towards al-Bab, the remaining major position of the Islamic State in Aleppo Province. The town, 35 km (22 miles) northeast of Aleppo, is also close to the frontlines of pro-Assad forces and the Kurdish militia YPG.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said of regime warnings, “This kind of attack will not stop our fight against Daesh [Islamic State]. This operation will continue until al-Bab. The operation needs to continue, and it will.”
The Assad regime said earlier last week that it would respond to Turkish airstrikes, just after Ankara’s warplanes attacked positions of the Kurdish YPG for the first time on October 19.
On Tuesday, a field commander of pro-Assad forces said any advance towards their positions north and east of Aleppo would be met “decisively and with force”.
The statement came a day after the regime’s first attack on the Turkish-supported rebels, killing two fighters and wounding five with barrel bombs from a helicopter.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also said the offensive would secure al-Bab. He added that the rebels would seek the occupation of the town of Manbij, which the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces captured from the Islamic State in early August.
However, Erdoğan drew a line against a move on Aleppo city: “Let’s make a joint fight against terrorist organizations. But Aleppo belongs to the people of Aleppo…making calculations over Aleppo would not be right.”
Turkey launched its military intervention on August 24, supporting rebels with airstrikes, tanks, and special forces. The offensive has cleared ISIS from a 55-km (34-mile) strip along the Turkish-Syrian border, and moved south into Aleppo Province.
In its early days, the advance also took territory from the YPG-led SDF, but halted at the Sajur River amid claims of US pressure.
Turkey considers the YPG and its political umbrella, the Kurdistan Democratic Union Party (PYD), to be part of the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK.
Obama Calls Erdoğan for “Coordination”
President Obama, in a telephone call with Erdoğan on Wednesday, “noted the need for close coordination” as he emphasized the fight against the Islamic State.
The White House said Obama recognized Turkey’s contributions to the fight against ISIS.
However, the President also appeared to be reinforcing the line that Ankara and the rebels should refrain from any move that might antagonize the YPG and the PYD.
On Monday, the US expressed public concern for the first time over last week’s Turkish strikes on the YPG positions, which were briefly followed by a rebel offensive across a 12-km (7.5-front) against the Kurdish militia.
American intervention may have helped halt that offensive, with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter holding tanks in Ankara on Friday.
Reports: Pro-Assad Forces Retake Souran in Northern Hama Province
Pro-Assad activists are reporting that the Syrian army and foreign allies have recaptured Souran in northern Hama Province.
Souran was one of four towns that fell to the rebels in an offensive from late August as they advanced on a 35-km (22-mile) front and moved within 10 km (6 miles) of Hama city.
In the past three weeks, pro-Assad forces have retaken a series of villages — including the fortified village of Ma’an — amid in-fighting between rebel factions and the jihadists of Jund al-Aqsa.
LCC: 65 Deaths on Wednesday
Forty of the casualties were in Idlib Province, where Russian bombing of schools in the village of Hass killed 18 children and eight teachers.
See Syria Feature: Russia Kills 26, Including 18 Children, in Bombings of Schools
