Turkey takes key highway in Syria

ISTANBUL: Turkish forces have taken control of the key M4 highway in northern Syria as part of Ankara´s operation against Kurdish militants, the defence ministry said Sunday.

“Following successful operations as part of Operation Peace Spring, the M4 highway has been brought under control after a 30-35 km-deep incursion,” the ministry announced on Twitter.The road, which runs east and west through northern Syria, is seen as a vital transport link for the Kurdish People´s Protection Units (YPG), which controls much of the region.

Also on Sunday, Turkish forces and their proxies seized Tal Abyad, the largest town they have captured in their offensive against Kurdish-controlled areas of northeastern Syria, a war monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the capture of Tal Abyad left the town of Ras al-Ain as the only other major target remaining in the initial phase of the five-day-old Turkish assault.

Erdogan said that threats of sanctions and arms embargoes by Western powers would not stop Turkey´s military offensive against Kurdish militants in Syria. “After we launched our operation, we have faced threats like economic sanctions and embargoes on weapons sales. Those who think they can make Turkey turn back with these threats are gravely mistaken,” Erdogan said in a televised speech.

Turkey assault on kurdish positions could displace 400,000 in Syria: Turkey’s deadly assault on Kurdish positions in northeastern Syria has forced 130,000 people to flee their homes, the UN said Sunday, adding it was preparing for that figure to more than triple.

“We have moved into a planning scenario where up to 400,000 people could be displaced within and across the affected areas,” Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA told AFP in an email, adding that these people would be “in need of assistance and protection.”

The UN had said Friday that some 100,000 people had been forced to flee their homes since the beginning of Turkey’s military incursion on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump ordered American troops to pull back from the border.

US preparing to withdraw all remaining troops from northern Syria: US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday President Donald Trump had ordered the withdrawal of up to 1,000 troops from northern Syria, as the number of people fleeing a Turkish assault soared to 130,000.

“In the last 24 hours, we learned that [the Turks] likely intend to extend their attack further south than originally planned, and to the west,” Esper said in a pre-taped interview with “Face the Nation” on CBS.

“We also have learned in the last 24 hours that the ... SDF are looking to cut a deal, if you will, with the Syrians and the Russians to counterattack against the Turks in the north.”

Esper said he spoke with Trump Saturday night, and that the president directed the U.S. military to “begin a deliberate withdrawal of forces from northern Syria.” Meanwhile, a small number of U.S. troops have left an outpost in the town of Ain Issa in northern Syria because of concerns about a Turkish incursion that is pushing into Syria, two U.S. defense official told media.