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ANKARA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Turkey would extend its military operation in Syria to the town of Manbij, a move that could potentially bring Turkish forces into confrontation with those of their NATO ally the United States.

Turkeys air and ground Operation Olive Branch in the Afrin region of northern Syria is now in its fifth day, targeting Kurdish YPG fighters and opening a new front in Syrias multi-sided civil war.

A push towards Manbij, in a separate Kurdish-held enclave some 100 km (60 miles) east of Afrin, could threaten U.S. plans to stabilize a swath of northeast Syria.

The United States has around 2,000 special forces troops in Syria, officially as part of an international U.S.-led coalition, assisting the Kurds in battle against Islamic State.

None of the Americans are known to be based in the Afrin area, but they are deployed in the Kurdish-held pocket that includes Manbij. Washington has angered Turkey by providing arms, training and air support to the Syrian Kurdish forces, which Turkey considers enemies.

With the Olive Branch operation, we have once again thwarted the game of those sneaky forces whose interests in the region are different, Erdogan said in a speech to provincial leaders in Ankara.

Starting in Manbij, we will continue to thwart their game.

Differences over Syria policy have already strained Turkeys relations with Washington almost to a breaking point. For the United States, the YPG is a key ally against both Islamic State jihadists and Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces.

A Turkish operation in Manbij would be fraught with risk due to the presence of the U.S. military personnel in and around the town. They were deployed there last March to deter Turkish and U.S.-backed rebels from attacking each other and have also carried out training missions in Manbij.

President Donald Trump plans to raise the U.S. concerns over the Turkish offensive in a telephone call with Erdogan expected on Wednesday, a senior U.S. official said.

In an interview with Reuters, Turkeys government spokesman said he saw a small possibility that Turkish forces could come face-to-face with the U.S. troops in Manbij.

U.S.-backed Syrian fighters in the Manbij area have deployed to frontlines to confront any Turkish assault and are in contact with the U.S.-led coalition over defending the town, their spokesman Sharfan Darwish said on Wednesday.

We are in full readiness to respond to any attack.

Rockets fired from Afrin struck the Turkish border town of Kilis, killing two people, a Syrian and a Turk, and wounding 11 people in the area, the local governors office said, the latest in what has been a series of such attacks since the start of the operation.

One of the rockets hit a mosque and the two people who were killed were praying at the time, the statement said.

Dozens of combatants have been killed since Turkey launched its offensive, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria.

Turkish shelling and airstrikes in Afrin have killed 28 civilians, while two civilians were killed as a result of YPG shelling near Azaz, a town held by Turkish-backed opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, the monitoring group said.

Turkey said three of its soldiers had been killed. Observatory head Rami Abdulrahman said 48 Turkey-backed Syrian fighters with Free Syrian Army groups had been killed and that the death toll among the Kurdish YPG so far stood at 42.

The Turkish military said it had killed at least 287 Kurdish fighters and Islamic State militants in the offensive. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) umbrella group led by the Kurdish YPG said there was no Islamic State presence in Afrin and Turkey had exaggerated the number of dead.

Communication between the United States and Turkey has continued over Syria, despite the countries differences.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who, he said, had suggested the formation of a 30 km security line inside Syria, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Turkey has previously sought such buffer zones in parts of Syria near its southern border.

A senior U.S. official said that as of Tuesday the Turks had not been ready to engage in detail on such a proposal.

Bad weather, including heavy rain, has hampered Turkeys offensive. Heavy clouds have hindered air support, limiting advances, and Kurdish militia have retaken some territory.

Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters have been trying to take the summit of Bursaya Hill, overlooking the eastern approach to Afrin town.

Turkey has not been able yet to shore up its control over any of the villages it has advanced on, said the Observatorys Abdulrahman. He attributed this to fierce resistance from YPG fighters who are from Afrin, and the hilly terrain of the area.

Afrin is separated from Manbij and the rest of the territory held by the Kurdish-led forces by a strip of land held by Assads government forces.

In 2016, the Kurdish-led SDF pushed Islamic State fighters out of Manbij. Erdogan has accused the United States of reneging on a promise to ensure that Kurdish fighters would return the town to Arab control.

U.S., British and German volunteers who fought against Islamic State alongside Kurdish-led forces in Syria are also now in the Afrin area to help confront Turkey, the SDF said.

U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has said Turkeys offensive is distracting from efforts to defeat Islamic State.

The United States has hoped to use the YPGs control of territory to give it the diplomatic muscle it needs to revive U.N.-led talks in Geneva on a deal that would end Syrias civil war and eventually lead to Assads removal.

Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun, Ercan Gurses Ece Toksabay and Dominic Evans in Ankara; Daren Butler, Ezgi Erkoyun and Ali Kucukgocmen in Istanbul; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Gareth Jones and Peter Graff

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Erdogan says to extend Syria operation despite risk of U.S ...

President Donald Trump warned Turkey against expanding its military offensive against U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, telling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that such action could lead to direct conflict with U.S. forces, the White House said.

Trump urged Turkey to deescalate, limit its military actions, and avoid civilian casualties and increases to displaced persons and refugees, the White House said Wednesday in a readout of Trumps call with Erdogan. He urged Turkey to exercise caution and to avoid any actions that might risk conflict between Turkish and American forces.

Turkey said the readout did not accurately reflect the content of the call and that Trump didnt share concerns over the violence.

Turkish forces wait near the Syrian border at Hassa, in Hatay province on Jan. 24.

Photographer: Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images

The White Houses harshly worded statement signaled the growing impatience with moves by Erdogan to crack down on Kurdish fighters who are supported by the U.S. but regarded by Turkey as terrorists. Trump also rebuked Erdogan over recent criticism of the U.S. The Turkish leader has publicly accused America of supporting terrorists by backing Kurdish fighters.

The president expressed concern about destructive and false rhetoric coming from Turkey, and about United States citizens and local employees detained under the prolonged State of Emergency in Turkey, the White House said.

Longstanding frictions between the NATO allies over Washingtons backing of Syrian Kurdish fighters escalated on Sunday when Ankara, in defiance of the U.S., sent tanks and warplanes across the border into the Afrin region, to chase the Kurdish forces from a border enclave they control.

Its trigger was a plan by the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State to set up a new armed force in an area of northeast Syria near Turkeys border, controlled by Kurdish fighters who are working with American troops. Erdogan condemned a statement by one U.S. military official that a border security force was being established, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson disowned that description.

The U.S. statement comes after Erdogan vowed to extend Turkeys offensive in northern Syria to another town, Manbij, where U.S. troops are embedded with local Kurdish fighters. When Erdogan sent his army into Afrin, Russian forces in that area pulled out, clearing the way for the Turkish advance. The White House statement suggests that U.S. soldiers may not do the same -- raising the prospect of a direct clash between the NATO armies, unless Erdogan backs down.

The Turkish presidency said Trump only touched upon the necessity of limiting the duration of the offensive keeping in mind the presence of a small number of U.S. troops in Manbij, the need to prevent a hot conflict in the area.

Syrian Kurds were the main ground force in the U.S. campaign to rout Islamic State, but Turkey regards them as an affiliate of a separatist group with designs on its territory. The dispute has pushed NATO member Turkey into alliance with Russia and Iran, as the three countries collaborate to impose a Syrian peace plan.

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ISTANBUL Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Monday to keep up an offensive against U.S.-backed Kurdish militias in Syria, rejecting American calls for restraint and boasting of a deal with Russia to press ahead with the assault.

Erdogans defiant message underscored the deepening rift between the NATO allies over the Kurdish militias and signaled a possible escalation of the latest tensions in Syrias seven-year conflict.

Turkey sees the Syrian Kurdish fighters as linked to insurgents fighting for Kurdish autonomy at home. Washington, meanwhile, has turned to the Syrian Kurds as a proxy force against the Islamic State and a bulwark against efforts by the extremists to reclaim territory.

Turkey on Saturday announced an air and ground offensive to rout the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, from Afrin, an enclave near the Turkish border. U.S. officials quickly called on Turkey to limit the scope and duration of the operation to avoid civilian casualties.

We appreciate their right to defend themselves, but this is a tough situation where there are a lot of civilians mixed in, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters while traveling from London to Paris, according to a pool report.

[Turkey opens offensive against Syrian Kurds]

Turkey has legitimate concerns about terrorists crossing the border into Turkey and carrying out attacks, he said, adding that the United States has asked Turkey to just try to be precise, try to limit your operation, try to show some restraint.

But Erdogan offered little suggestion that Turkey would scale back its offensive. We are determined. Afrin will be sorted out. We will take no step back, he said at a meeting of business leaders in Turkeys capital, Ankara. Without elaborating, he said Turkey had reached an agreement with Russia whose forces back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the operation.

America says the timing [of the operation] should be clear, Erdogan continued. Well, was your timing in Afghanistan clear? Is your time in Iraq done?

Syrian Kurdish officials said Monday that at least 13 civilians and three Kurdish fighters had been killed since the operation started. Turkey also deployed allied Syrian rebels to help in the fight.

It was unclear, however, how far Turkey or its proxy forces had advanced on Afrin or surrounding Kurdish areas. Turkish officials said this weekend that the goal was to create a secure zone along the border.

In Afrin, a spokesman for the YPG, Nouri Mahmoud, denounced Russia for apparently giving a green light to the Turkish attacks. This is an unethical position from the Russian forces, he said at a news conference.

U.S. officials say the YPG militia played an essential role in ousting Islamic State militants from several areas of Syria.

They have proven their effectiveness, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters Sunday enroute to Southeast Asia.

It has cost them thousands of casualties, he said. But you have watched them, with the coalition support, shred [the] ISIS caliphate in Syria. ISIS is an acronym for the Islamic State.

Alex Horton in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Heba Habib in Stockholm contributed to this report.

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Turkey's Erdogan vows to press offensive on U.S.-backed Kurds ...

There has been intense fighting as Turkish troops and their allies advance on a Kurdish enclave in Syria.

Ankara's offensive aimed at ousting the US-backed Kurdish militia from the area has now entered its fourth day

The Turkish mission named Operation Olive Branch, has heightened tensions in the already complicated Syrian conflict, further straining ties between Turkey and the US.

Turkey considers the Kurdish YPG fighters as allies of Kurdish insurgents back home. It's aim is to create a 30-kilometre wide "secure zone" in Afrin, the Kurdish-controlled enclave that straddles its borders.

On Monday ( Jan 22) Turkey's southern border town of Kilis was struck by a missile fired from within Syria.

In all 14 missiles have landed on the town since Turkey began its military operation, wounding 8 people.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended the offensive on Afrin saying there will be no pulling back:

"Afrin will be settled," he said. "There will be no let up until the operation is complete. We have discussed this with our Russian friends, we have an agreement."

A representative of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government, Jawidan Hassan, has condemned the ongoing operation by Turkish troops.

"We consider what is happening in Afrin a war against the whole of humanity. In this war, President Erdogan wants to break the will of the People's Protection Units (YPG), who have struggled against the terrorism of so- called Islamic State group on behalf of the whole world."

Some reports say at east 80 people have been killed in the fighting since Saturday. International reaction has been to call for restraint and concern has been raised over civilians caught up in the fighting.

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President Erdogan defends Turkey's offensive in Syria | Euronews

As Turkey threatens a bloody confrontation with a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in the main Syrian Kurdish enclave in northwestern Syria, it faces the challenge of maintaining its old alliance with Washington and reinforcing a new rapprochement with Moscow.

The move comes as Syria once again finds itself on the precipice of a new conflict, after months of reduced violence and a surge in post-war stabilization plans. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Syrians in the northwest are fleeing the renewed violence amid a new government offensive in neighboring Idlib, converging on the Turkish border and igniting fears of a new wave of migration.

Turkish warplanes hit 45 targets in northern Syria's Afrin region on Sunday, the military said, as ground forces pushed into the area in an operation targeting a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia.Iran responded quickly Sunday and called for a quick end to a Turkish incursion into northern Syria's Afrin province, saying it may help "terrorist" groups, state news agency IRNA reported.

A wider Turkish-Kurdish confrontation

Turkeys defense minister, Nurettin Canikli, said Friday there was no turning back from launching a ground assault on Syrias Afrin enclave, saying the offensive had de facto started with sporadic Turkish military shelling of the area. Over the last week, Turkey has sent troops and tanks to the border and rallied Syrian fighters it has backed for the fight against Afrins battle-hardened Kurdish fighters, estimated at between 8,000 and 10,000.

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The operation could spill into a wider Turkish-Kurdish confrontation inside Turkey. It also threatens to turn into a humanitarian disaster. The Afrin district houses no less than 800,000 civilians, including displaced people from earlier years of the Syrian war.

Turkey has been preparing for a showdown in Afrin for a while. But the recent escalation coincides with U.S. announcements that it is creating a new 30,000-strong Kurdish-led border force to secure the frontiers of Kurdish-controlled areas, including with Turkey and Iraq, to prevent the resurgence of Islamic State militants.

Where is Russia?

Moscows green light is necessary for a Turkish operation into Afrin, where Russian military observers have deployed since last year to prevent such a confrontation.

Activists and Kurdish fighters have denied claims in Turkish media that Russian troops have begun a withdrawal.

Russia, Iran and Turkey are interested in limiting the U.S. presence in Syria, and have protested Washingtons plans to create the border force, viewed as a U.S. attempt to create a buffer zone where Iranian and Syrian government influence ends.

"Unilateral actions" by the United States in Iran and Syria have infuriated Turkey, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Kommersant newspaper in an interview.

"Many political scientists are asking why do we care and say that the worst is the best: let the United States prove its inability to find an agreement, (to show) its destructive role in global affairs, let it be in Iran or Syria and where the unilateral actions have already infuriated Turkey," he said.

In the interview to Kommersant, conducted earlier this week and published on Sunday, Lavrov also said that an attempt by the U.S. via the possible new sanctions to change Russian foreign policy was 'unpromising'

Ankaras military operations in Syria began in 2016 in large part to curtail the formation of a contiguous territory under Kurdish control along its borders. It successfully severed that territorial continuity when it deployed its troops and proxy Syrian fighters to areas between Kurdish enclaves in eastern and western Syria.

Afrin remained the only Kurdish enclave in northwestern Syria, encircled by Turkey-backed rebels, and Turkey has been preparing an assault for over a year. Turkey claims that Afrin is an operating base for fighters of its own outlawed Kurdish insurgent group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, to infiltrate Turkish territories.

Erdogan on the attack

In dealing with the conflicts in Afrin and Idlib, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has shown political acumen, juggling national security interests and domestic election concerns, while exerting pressure on Washington and Moscow for his long-term strategic objectives. The threats of an offensive against Kurdish fighters help consolidate nationalist support for Erdogan, who faces a crucial election next year.

With an assault on Afrin, Turkey seeks to further undermine the Kurdish dream of federalized rule in northern Syria. Driving the Kurdish militia out of Afrin would also allow Turkey-backed Syrian fighters supporting its offensive to link Idlib to Syrias largest city, Aleppo.

Turkey deployed troops in November in Idlib to monitor a de-escalation agreement with Russia and Iran, but they were more strategically stationed along the border with Afrin.

The timing reflects Turkeys increased frustration with U.S. support for Kurdish forces in Syria, who are now in control of nearly 25 percent of the country, in areas that straddle the Turkish and Iraqi border.

Turkey remains a loyal and trusted friend and ally of the U.S. and the West. But that does not mean we will accept being treated as sacrificial animals just because a couple of American generals want to embark on an adventure in the Middle East, Ilnur Cevik, an Erdogan presidential adviser, wrote in the Turkish daily Sabah.

Will the U.S. respond?

Despite assurances to Turkey from State Secretary Rex Tillerson, who says the Kurdish-led border force has been misrepresented, there doesnt seem to be a major shift in U.S. policy in Syria.

If anything, he exacerbated it. Erdogan will perceive Tillersons announcement of longer term U.S. presence in Syria as doubling down on our partnership with (the Kurdish militia), which does not de-escalate the Turks, said Elizabeth Teoman, a Turkey researcher with the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.

The Trump administration has been urging Turkey not to attack Afrin, asking Turkish officials to avoid unilateral actions, said two U.S. officials, who werent authorized to discuss diplomatic conversations and demanded anonymity.

The U.S military doesnt have any presence in Afrin, one of the officials said, but a Turkish operation there could have an impact on U.S. operations further east in Syria. The U.S. worries that such an operation could prove to be a distraction from defeating the last vestiges of the Islamic State group, the officials said, adding that the new Kurdish-led border force is nothing new and should not come as a surprise to the Turkish government.

Meanwhile, Turkey has maneuvered to curtail a wide Russian-backed Syrian government military operation in Idlib the largest remaining insurgent-held area in Syria. The offensive has already caused tens of thousands to flee and has threatened to undermine Erdogans clout in the region.

Turkeys threatened ground assault in Afrin comes as the Idlib operation has intensified, with the Syrian government positioning rival troops near Turkeys forces there, threatening Turkey-backed Syrian insurgents in the province and creating conditions for a humanitarian disaster.

As the offensive has unfolded, Russian bases in Syria have come under unprecedented drone attacks, sparking tension between Moscow and Turkey amid accusations that such drones would have required assistance from a country possessing satellite navigation technology.

A Syrian Kurdish official, Ilham Ahmed, said the Russians were bargaining with Turkey over Afrin in exchange for allowing the government to take Idlib. Russia would prefer handing over Idlib to the Syrian government, instead of Turkey-backed opposition fighters. What to do with al-Qaida-linked group remains a dilemma for all parties, and is a sticking point between the U.S. and Turkey.

Last week, the government offensive in Idlib slowed down amid a counteroffensive from the rebel forces and bad weather. But the airstrikes continued and the number of the provinces displaced resident has reached about 215,000 since mid-December.

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Turkey vs. the Kurds: Erdogan attacks U.S.-backed forces in ...