Advertisement Continue reading the main storyBut the budding alliance has drawn the United States deeper into the complex politics of northern Syria and prompted furious objections from Turkish officials. The Syrian force includes 27,000 members of the Y.P.G, a Kurdish militia, and 23,000 local Arab fighters. Turkish officials insist that the Kurdish fighters are linked with the Kurdistan Workers Party, which is regarded as a terrorist group by both Turkey and the United States. “They are essentially a light, irregular formation with fairly light weapons,” Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who commands the American-led task force that is fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria, said of the Syrian fighters. As the Trump administration begins to grapple with the issues, tensions between Turkish forces in Syria and Syrian Kurds are running high.

Source: New York Times February 25, 2017 01:19 UTC