Turkey ‘declaring war,’ says YPG

QAMISHLI, Syria/BEIRUT: The head of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia told Reuters on Wednesday that Turkish military deployments near Kurdish-held areas of northwestern Syria amounted to a "a declaration of war", signalling the risk of a major confrontation. Asked whether he expected a conflict with Turkey in northern Syria, where the two sides have exchanged artillery fire in recent days, Sipan Hemo accused Turkey of preparing for a military campaign.

The YPG is spearheading the US-backed campaign to capture Islamic State’s stronghold of Raqqa, some 200-km to east of the Aleppo region where tensions between Turkish forces and the Kurdish YPG have been mounting in recent weeks.