Turkey launches military offensive in Syria

The Turkish border town of Akcakale was hit by several mortar rounds and wounded several people on Thursday, Turkish officials told CNN. 

Officials said several mortars landed in the garden between the governor’s office and the riot police headquarters. A public worker who was inside the building said two mortars landed by the entrance to the governor’s office and at least six civilians were injured. 

“That of course will be deeply unwelcome news for those living here, who have seen the offensive get underway and wondered quite what the Syrian Kurdish response would be, if indeed those mortar shells were fired by the Syrian Kurds, which seems like the most likely conclusion,” said CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh from the Turkish-Syrian border.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a stern warning to Europeans on Thursday.

In a defiant address to lawmakers from his party just moments ago, the Turkish President said he would continue the operation in northern Syria, adding that if Europe criticizes his military moves, he would open the flood gates and allow 3.6 million Syrian refugees to travel onwards. 

Erdogan also claimed that so far 109 “terrorists” have been neutralized in northern Syria since “Operation Peace Spring” began Wednesday.

CNN’s Clarissa Ward, reporting from northern Syria, said: “He is making it very, very clear that he is not going to tolerate any criticism from the international community despite the bloodshed, and despite real questions about where this military operation ends and how many more civilians will die.”

The Turkish Army struck a civilian convoy in the town of Tal Abyad in northern Syria on Thursday, leaving at least three civilians dead and others wounded, a spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has said in a tweet.

Mustafa Bali, the head of the Syrian Democratic Forces media office, wrote: “A civilian convoy was hit by Turkish army en route to Til Abyad. 3 civilians were killed and many others were wounded acc. to initial reports.”

Earlier, the SDF reported eight were killed on Wednesday on the first day of the Turkish military operation.

A US official tells CNN their assessment is that Turkey aims to clear a substantial stretch of the Syria border area. This would initially at least stretch between the towns of Ras Al Ain and Tal Abyad, about five miles deep, an area initially covered by the US-Turkish security mechanism that has since been discarded.

The official added the operation may end up wider in scope and encompass the “whole stretch” of the border.

Turkey has not stated its immediate goals or territorial objectives in this phase of the operation. However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has shown the UNGA a map showing ambitions to take much of the Turkish border with Syria, and extend 18 miles deep into it.

The Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Thursday that they had been able to repel a ground incursion attempt by the “Turkish Occupation Army” in the hub of Tal Halaf, and the town of Sluk in northeastern Syria.

“Our forces have foiled the infiltration attempts of Turkish Occupation Army,” the SDF said in a post on their press page.

The Turkish Defense Ministry says operations in northern Syria are continuing “successfully” Thursday.

“Peace Spring Operation was successfully carried out by air and land during the night. The targets set were achieved. Operation continues successfully as planned,” the Turkish Ministry of Defense said in a post on Twitter Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, a convoy of Turkish and Free Syrian Army forces was seen heading towards Syria.

A CNN team on Turkey-Syria border heard and witnessed a number of explosions in the Syrian territory on the outskirts of the town of Tal Abyad. The cause of the explosion was unclear.

Kurdish demonstrators in Strasbourg, France, protesting against Turkey's military offensive in Syria on October 9, 2019.

Hundreds of Kurdish people living in northern Syria near the Turkish border are fleeing as fires blaze behind them.

Living in a region controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a defense force mostly made up of Kurds, the frequently targeted group is once again under attack as Turkey launches an operation to move Kurdish forces away from its border.

Here’s what you need to know about the Kurds:

Late on Wednesday night, President Donald Trump tweeted about the two high-profile ISIS members, known as the “Beatles,” who were transferred into US custody earlier that day.

“In case the Kurds or Turkey lose control, the United States has already taken the 2 ISIS militants tied to beheadings in Syria, known as the Beetles [sic], out of that country and into a secure location controlled by the U.S,” Trump tweeted.

The two members have been held in northern Syria by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for more than a year. They were taken into US custody because of growing concerns that the Turkish offensive could result in ISIS prisoners escaping from undermanned prisons in Syria, according to three US officials.

Turkey began a planned military offensive into northeastern Syria on Wednesday, launching airstrikes and artillery fire across the border just days after the Trump administration announced it was pulling US troops back from the area.

Let’s break down what’s happening:

At least eight people were killed and dozens of others injured in the first day of the Turkish military operation in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

“Three fighters & 5 civilians martyred. Dozens of civilians injured due to large-scale indiscriminate Turkish shelling on all-long border-line towns of northeastern Syria,” the SDF operation center tweeted late Wednesday.

The Turkish Defense Ministry said earlier today its armed forces hit a total of 181 targets in Syria.

Turkey began a planned military offensive into northeastern Syria on Wednesday, launching airstrikes and artillery fire across the border just days after the Trump administration announced it was pulling US troops back from the area.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington, DC on October 9, 2019.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday President Donald Trump “is mindful that ISIS might begin to rise up again.”

In describing the decision to pull out of Syria, Pompeo acknowledged that ISIS is not eliminated.

“That challenge still remains. But the President firmly believes it is now time that we reprioritize, that we, in fact, protect America first, and that we get our force posture in the Middle East just right,” he said.

He added that Trump had decided to move the American troops “to make sure they were out of harm’s way” after hearing that Turkey had a military offensive planned – but that the US was not going to abandon the Kurds.

When asked whether Trump could trust Turkish President Recep Erdogan, Pompeo didn’t directly answer.

The Turkish government has refuted accusations that its military operation is targeting Kurds.

Speaking on Turkish TV Wednesday, the country’s Foreign Minister Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the government had no problem with its “Kurdish brothers” and its aim was to eliminate “terrorists” in Syria.

Cavusoglu also said the international community should help with this project and that he will talk with his German, British and Canadian counterparts on Thursday. 

Turkey has long been unhappy about the strong Kurdish presence in northeast Syria near the Turkish border. The country’s military has already moved into portions of areas previously held by the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), but now their longtime plan to create a buffer zone in northern Syria is underway.

The US military has taken custody of two high profile members of the British ISIS cell known as the “Beatles” as concerns loom over whether the ongoing Turkish offensive could result in ISIS prisoners escaping from undermanned prisons in Syria, according to three US officials.

One of the officials said the transfer was made today.

The second US official said there are plans to bring the two ISIS members, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, to the US for prosecution. The two have been held in northern Syria by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for more than a year.

The State Department accused their ISIS execution cell of “holding captive and beheading approximately two dozen hostages,” including James Foley, American journalist Steven Sotloff, and American aid worker Peter Kassig.

What we know about both ISIS members:

The US effort to take custody has moved in fits and starts in recent months. Complications arose because of British legal issues that could prevent the UK from sharing evidence the US needs to prosecute the men.  

Given the fast moving developments in Syria, Attorney General William Barr, in recent days, asked President Trump to make this a priority and the President signed-off. 

The Washington Post first reported that the two Beatles members were transferred to US custody.

President Trump responded to discussions of bipartisan legislation on sanctions against Turkey, sponsored in part by his ally Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Trump said he agreed that sanctions are needed, but only if Turkey doesn’t act in a “humane” way. 

Trump said he would be “much tougher than sanctions,” if Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “doesn’t do it in as humane a way as possible.”

Trump didn’t explain what he would consider “humane” and added that he’s gotten Erdogan “to stop” moving into Syria “from virtually the first day” the President was in office.

“They wanted to fight, and that’s the way it is,” Trump said, “And they’ve done it for so long.”

Some context: Earlier today, Graham called the situation “a disaster in the making” in a series of tweets and urged Trump “to change course while there is still time.”

The South Carolina Republican and Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland plan to introduce bipartisan legislation to sanction Turkey’s economy and military for the Syria operation.

Graham is predicting the legislation will have a veto-proof majority in the Senate, making it impossible for Trump to stop. He has been publicly scathing in his criticism of the President for the Turkey decision.

The Turkish Defense Ministry said today its armed forces hit a total of 181 targets in Syria.

“Turkish armed forces hit 181 targets of terror organization by air forces and fire support elements within Peace Spring operation,” the ministry tweeted.

About the operation: Turkey began a planned military offensive into northeastern Syria today, launching airstrikes and artillery fire across the border just days after the Trump administration announced it was pulling US troops back from the area.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called claims that the US withdrawal of troops from northeastern Syria was a green light for the slaughter of the Kurds “false.”

In comments made today, Pompeo also did not explicitly endorse the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as US allies.

Pompeo claims that “it became very clear” after the phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “that there were American soldiers that were going to be at risk and the President made a decision to put them in a place where they were out of harm’s way.”

Asked whether he personally changed his thinking about “viewing the YPG as US allies,” Pompeo said, “The Turks have a legitimate security concern.” 

Pompeo would not directly answer when repeatedly asked if the US would take responsibility for the outcome of what happens in Syria.

A prison holding ISIS detainees was hit in a Turkish airstrike, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said today.

“One of the prisons that ISIS detainees held in was struck by Turkish airstrike. Turkey is aiming to undermine all successful efforts and achievements that we gained during our fighting against #ISIS,” the group tweeted.

What we know about Turkey’s military offensive: A senior US defense official told CNN the Turkish offensive has already had a “detrimental effect” on US-led counter ISIS operations.

The Turkish operation “has challenged our ability to build local security forces, conduct stabilization operations and the Syrian Democratic Forces [ability] to guard over 11,000 dangerous ISIS fighters. We are just watching the second largest army in NATO attack one of our best counter-terrorism partners,” the source said.

An official at the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said Turkish military operations in Syria are “a direct threat to security and stability in the region.”

The official called for a “distance” from a military option today, according to a statement on the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry’s official website.

The Foreign Ministry official called for restrain to avoid a situation that would further increase the suffering of the Syrian people.

Saudi Arabia condemned the Turkish offensive in northeast Syria today, according to an official source cited by state TV.

Saudi Arabia warned that the military action could have negative repercussions on the security of the region.

The country warned that the offensive undermines the fight against the Islamic State terrorist organization in these areas.

Some background: Turkey is reportedly targeting the US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — an important US ally in the war against ISIS. Just hours after Turkey launched its offensive, the SDF said it had suspended its anti-ISIS operations in order to deal with the attack, a senior US defense official told CNN.

Syrian Democratic Forces fighters have repelled Turkish ground forces along the border, according to SDF spokesperson Mustafa Bali.

“Ground attack by Turkish forces has been repelled by SDF fighters in Til Abyad. No advance as of now,” he tweeted.

Bali’s announcement comes after the Turkish Defense Ministry confirmed earlier on Twitter that the Turkish Armed Forces and the Syrian National Army had “launched the land operation into the east of the Euphrates river as part of the Operation Peace Spring.”

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian condemned Turkey’s military offensive in northeast Syria and said they have called on the United Nations Security Council.

“It jeopardizes the security and humanitarian efforts of the Coalition against ISIS and risks undermining the security of Europeans. It must stop. The Security Council has been called upon,” he added. 

The Turkish Defense Ministry confirmed the launch of its land operation in northeast Syria today.

Some context: Turkey is reportedly targeting the US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — a key US ally in the war against ISIS. Just hours after Turkey launched its offensive, the SDF said that they had suspended their anti-ISIS operations in order to deal with the attack, a senior US defense official told CNN.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to President Trump today about Turkey’s military operation in Syria.

Some background: Days ago Trump announced that US troops would pull back from the area, prompting much criticism and fear over violence in the region.

Turkey’s military launched an offensive in northeast Syria today to push US-backed Kurdish forces away from its border.

Syrians flee shelling by Turkish forces in Ras al-Ayn, northeast Syria.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which administers a semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq, said it does not have the capacity to accommodate all of the people who are expected to be displaced as a result of the Turkish offensive.

The KRG said Wednesday that the consequences of the military escalation “go beyond Syria’s borders,” warning of the return of ISIS and mass displacement.

“The regional government has always been stressing about the crisis and must be resolved through a strict political solution that guarantees the rights of all Syrians, including the Kurdish people,” the statement said.

The Turkish offensive has already had a “detrimental effect” on US-led counter ISIS operations, a senior US defense official told CNN.

According to the source, Turkey is targeting the US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — a key US ally in the war against ISIS. Just hours after Turkey launched its offensive, the SDF said that they had suspended their anti-ISIS operations in order to deal with the attack.

The Turkish operation “has challenged our ability to build local security forces, conduct stabilization operations and the Syrian Democratic Forces [ability] to guard over 11,000 dangerous ISIS fighters. We are just watching the second largest army in NATO attack one of our best counter-terrorism partners,” the source said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's senior adviser Gülnur Aybet speaks with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

The responsibility for ISIS fighters being held in northeastern Syria cannot fall to Turkey alone, a senior adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

“In terms of the ISIS fighters … held in prisons, which are closer to our border, of course initially our priority is to provide security and stability in the areas we move into,” Erdogan’s senior adviser Gülnur Aybet said. “We will safeguard any areas that contain these prisons. However, we would like the management of the camps, in particular, something that has to be undertaken as a joint effort with the international community.”

Her comments were a stark contrast to a statement released by the White House Wednesday, in which US President Donald Trump said that Turkey was “now responsible for ensuring all ISIS fighters being held captive remain in prison and that ISIS does not reconstitute in any way, shape, or form.” 

“We expect Turkey to abide by all of its commitments, and we continue to monitor the situation closely,” Trump said.

Aybet suggested that, when Erdogan visits the White House next month, the two leaders will discuss further details about dealing with the ISIS fighters.

The United Nations Security Council will meet privately Thursday morning to discuss the situation in Syria, two UN diplomats tell CNN. 

The announcement comes as Turkey begins its military offensive in northern Syria to move US-backed Kurdish forces away from its border.

Five European countries – including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom – requested the meeting, according to one of the diplomats.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is “very concerned” by developments in northern Syria and called for civilians to be protected “in accordance with international law,” Guterres’ deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq, told reporters Wednesday.

“As the Security Council reaffirmed yesterday in its presidential statement, any solution must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria,” Haq added.

NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has called for Turkey – a member of the alliance – to “act with restraint.”

Speaking at a press briefing in Rome Wednesday, Stoltenberg said that Turkey has “legitimate security concerns,” has suffered “horrendous terrorist attacks,” and plays host to “millions of Syrian refugees.” But Stoltenberg added that he counted on Turkey “to act with restraint and to ensure that any action it may take in Northern Syria is proportionate and measured.”

Throwing more confusion on the situation in Syria, US President Donald Trump released a statement saying the US “does not endorse this attack and has made it clear to Turkey that this operation is a bad idea.”

Here is Trump’s full statement:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have issued statements underlining their concern about the lives of tens of thousands of people in northeastern Syria who are living in camps, detention or in their own villages and towns.

More than 100,000 people are currently being hosted in camps in Hasakah, Raqqa and Deir Ezzor.

“The humanitarian space needs to be preserved so that people can receive the help they need,” said Fabrizio Carboni, ICRC director for Near and Middle East in Geneva.

Civilians flee in a truck amid Turkish bombardment on Syria's northeastern town of Ras al-Ain, along the Turkish border.

The IRC said it was also concerned about how the Turkish offensive might impact life-saving humanitarian services for people living in the region.

“As Turkish offensive in Syria begins, the IRC is deeply concerned about the lives and livelihoods of the two million civilians in northeast Syria who have already survived ISIS brutality and multiple displacements,” the IRC said in a statement.

“A military offensive could displace 300,000 people and disrupt life-saving humanitarian services, including the IRC’s.”

Two civilians were killed and two others injured in the Turkish aerial bombardment on the village of Misharrafa, west of Ras al-Ain, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) tweeted. 

Turkish artillery shelling is targeting areas near the Bouzra dam in Derik, which provides water to hundreds of thousands of civilians in northern Syria, according to the SDF.

The bombardment has also hit civilian homes in the village of Sikarkah, in eastern Qamishli, the SDF said in a post on Twitter.

A photo taken from Turkey's Sanliurfa province shows smoke rising over the Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn.

It is absolute gridlock here in northern Syria, near the border with Turkey, as people try to flee to safety with little idea of what the Turkish military has in store for them.

For civilians living in this Kurdish stronghold, it’s their worst nightmare playing out before their eyes.

There was a hope up until the last minute that perhaps the US would stand in support of its Kurdish allies and prevent this incursion from happening.

But now there is widespread fear of what Turkey – which views the YPG-controlled zone as an existential threat – will do next.

So far, Turkish airstrikes have largely hit Kurdish military targets, but once you have mortars flying, there is always a potential for civilian casualties. We witnessed what appeared to be six different strikes and a fire at what locals told us was a cotton factory.

Chaotic scenes are unfolding now, with roads choked with hundreds of fleeing families, motorcycles piled with five to six people, mattresses strapped to cars. Thick black smoke can be seen rising from a number of different areas.

People don’t know where they will go, where they will sleep tonight, or what they can expect from this Turkish operation.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key US partner in the fight against ISIS, have suspended their operations countering the militant group, according to a US official. 

The SDF said it had halted counter-ISIS operations to focus on the Turkish offensive. 

SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali tweeted Wednesday that the forces would “clash against the Turks to stop them from crossing the border.

“We will use all our possibilities against Turkish aggression,” Bali said.

Turkey’s military offensive comes just days after the Trump administration announced it was pulling US troops back from the border area. Here’s tick tock of events that led up to the operation:

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Today

Manbij Military Council spokesman, Shervan Derwish, has been tweeting videos and photos from northern Syria, capturing scenes of families fleeing bombardment.

“This world, which left our people in front of this barbaric attack, were we wrong when we fought ISIS for it?” he said in a post on Twitter.

Turkish soldiers stand guard on the Turkey-Syria border on Wednesday.

Now that Turkey has launched its offensive in northern Syria to clear the area of US-backed Kurdish forces, the key question is: just how extensive will the operation be?

Could it simply be symbolic, a moment to capitalize on the green light Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan feels he has from Washington? Or will we see a military intervention that unfolds gradually over the next weeks and months?

From what CNN teams have seen on the border so far, it feels like a seismic moment.

A barrage of airstrikes and artillery fire could be heard volleyed into northern Syria Wednesday afternoon, perhaps a message to Kurdish fighters to allow Turkish convoys to proceed across the border.

This swathe of countryside is effectively the same area that incubated ISIS. And, without the US-backed Kurdish forces installed here, the risk of ISIS 2.0 is very real.

There will be a vacuum where the militants could become assets in play for various warring sides.

Turkey has said it would take the ISIS fighters currently being guarded in jails by the Kurds into their custody, but that is a massive task to undertake while they’re also carrying out this operation.

Almost all of the woes and ills we’ve seen in the last five to 10 years in the Middle East can somehow traced back to this Syrian border – now it seems we are seeing that happen again.

Hundreds of civilians in northern Syria have fled areas on the border with Turkey within the last 30 minutes, two YPG fighters and witnesses tell CNN.

Turkey used heavy artillery and conducted airstrikes on Ras Al-Ain in northwest Al-Hasakah country in Syria, the fighters said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to “carefully weigh the situation” in Syria, so as not to “harm the overall efforts to resolve” the crisis, according to a statement released by the Kremlin.

In the statement, the Kremlin also underlined “the importance of ensuring the unity and territorial integrity of Syria and respect for its sovereignty was noted on both sides.”

Since Russia’s military intervention in Syria’s war began in 2015, Russian forces have helped returned control of large swathes of previously rebel-held areas of the country to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Trump’s decision to give Turkey a green light to carry out a military offensive against US-backed Kurdish forces in northern Syria is “shameful,” retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling told CNN Wednesday.

“Today, anything is possible when these sorts of authoritarian governments have been given a green light by the US,” Hertling said, adding that Turkey had been handed “free rein” in Syria to quash the Kurds.

The role of the Kurds in the US-backed coalition fighting against ISIS has helped to protect them from Turkey, according to Hertling, who said that, if they are cleared from the area, it will contribute to ISIS 2.0.

Before the offensive was announced on Wednesday afternoon, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (also known as the Kurdish Administration in Northeastern Syria) called up all civilians for a three day “general mobilization” to defend the region against Turkey’s military offensive.

In a statement posted on its Facebook account Wednesday, the Kurdish administration asked people to head towards the Turkish boarder to resist the operation.

The group also wrote that it will hold the United Nations, America, the European Union and Russia responsible “for any humanitarian catastrophe inflicted on our people in northern and eastern Syria.”

An hour before Turkey launched its operation in northern Syria to clear US-backed Kurdish forces away from its border, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to condemn America’s military interventions in the Middle East.

“GOING INTO THE MIDDLE LEAST IS THE WORST DECISION EVER MADE … IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY!” Trump tweeted.

Trump has been itching to leave Syria for months, once dubbing it nothing but “sand and death.” And, as he has been at pains to point out, Trump was elected president on a promise to get out of “these ridiculous endless wars.”

But the sudden pull-back of US forces – and the desertion of the Syrian Kurds, a key ally in the fight against ISIS – comes just as a regrouping by ISIS is taking shape.

Shortly after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the offensive in northern Syria had started, the spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – a key US ally in northern Syria – claimed that warplanes had begun carrying out airstrikes on civilian areas.

“There is a huge panic among people of the region,” SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said.

Turkey’s army has launched an offensive in northern Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday, as part of an operation to move US-backed Kurdish forces away from its border.

“The Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Syrian National Army, just launched #OperationPeaceSpring against PKK/YPG and Daesh [ISIS] terrorists in northern Syria. Our mission is to prevent the creation of a terror corridor across our southern border, and to bring peace to the area,” he tweeted.

In another tweet, Erdogan added that “Operation Peace Spring” would “neutralize terror threats against Turkey” and help facilitate the “return of Syrian refugees to their homes” by establishing a safe zone.

Important context: The “Syrian National Army” does not refer to the official military of Syria, which is called the Syrian Arab Army.

The Syrian National Army is a Turkey-backed rebel group comprised mainly of factions and fighters from what was known as the Free Syrian Army. The group’s headquarters are in Azaz, in northwestern Syria, and it claims to have tens of thousands of fighters.

The movement came hours after Turkish government communications director, Fahrettin Altun, said the country’s military was set to cross into Syria along with the rebel Free Syrian Army. 

In a tweet early Wednesday, Altun said the the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, also known as the YPG, had two options: “They can defect or we will have stop them from disrupting our counter-ISIS efforts.”