Turkey escalated its offensive Thursday against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, pounding them with airstrikes and artillery, and complicating the battle against the Islamic State group by Ankara and Washington, both NATO allies. That has dismayed Turkey, which is dealing with a homegrown Kurdish insurgency and trying to prevent an expansion of Kurdish influence in Syria. Although the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 14 Kurdish fighters were killed and four were missing. The Syrian Kurdish forces have been a source of tension between Turkey and the United States. Kurdish forces are the main partner in such a fight, but Ankara has said it is ready to act without Kurdish participation.

Source: CBC News October 20, 2016 23:15 UTC