Cavuso­glu indica­tes that Turkis­h forces might extend eastwa­rdISTANBUL: Turkey’s campaign to oust Kurdish militia from their enclave of Afrin in northern Syria could be expanded to include the town of Manbij and even areas east of the Euphrates River, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday. Turkey on Saturday launched operation “Olive Branch” aimed at rooting out the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Ankara sees as a terror group, from its Afrin enclave in northern Syria. Turkey steps up assault on Kurdish militia in SyriaBut analysts say a crucial question will be whether Turkey limits the campaign to the Afrin region or extends it to the YPG held-town of Manbij or other areas to the east. “This operation is targeting Afrin region but the threats are also coming from Manbij,” Cavusoglu told France 24 television in an interview during a visit to Paris, accusing the YPG of firing on Turkey from the area. “This current operation is targeting Afrin region.

Source: The Express Tribune January 24, 2018 06:11 UTC