The White House said Sunday that Turkey will soon invade northern Syria, renewing fears of a slaughter of Kurdish fighters allied with the U.S. in a years-long campaign against the Islamic State group. For months, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been threatening to launch a military assault on the Kurdish forces in northern Syria, many of whom his government considers terrorists. It was not clear whether that meant the U.S. would be withdrawing its 1,000 or so troops completely from northern Syria. AdvertisementThe announcement came after a call between President Trump and Erdogan, the White House said. Ambassador James Jeffrey, the State Department envoy to the international coalition fighting Islamic State, and Trump have said there are about 2,500 foreign fighters captured in the battle against Islamic State that the U.S. wants Europe to take.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 07, 2019 03:52 UTC