Senior US official says invasion endangers allies in fight against terror as Turkish president hits back at critics of operationThe US has set down red lines for the Turkish offensive into Syria that would trigger sanctions against Ankara, including “ethnic cleansing” and indiscriminate fire directed at civilians. “But on Sunday, President Erdoğan told President Trump that he was not satisfied with it. The official insisted Trump had not given the offensive a “green light”, and said the US had refused any kind of military support for the Turkish offensive. At least 23 SDF fighters and eight civilians, two them SDF administrators, were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Gülnur Aybet, one of the Turkish president’s senior advisers, told CNN: “President Trump and President Erdoğan have reached an understanding over precisely what this operation is.” Aybet added that Trump “knows what the scope of this operation is”.

Source: The Guardian October 10, 2019 13:38 UTC