Turkey sends more tanks to Syria, demands Kurdish fighters retreat

August 25, 2016 19:20

Turkey sent more tanks into northern Syria on Thursday and demanded Kurdish militia fighters retreat within a week as it seeks to secure the border region and drive back Islamic State with its first major incursion into its neighbor.

Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes on Wednesday entered Jarablus, one of Islamic State's last strongholds on the Turkish-Syrian border, in a US-backed offensive.

Gunfire and explosions echoed around hills in the region on Thursday.

President Tayyip Erdogan and senior government officials have made clear the aim of "Operation Euphrates Shield" is as much about stopping the Kurdish YPG militia seizing territory and filling the void left by Islamic State as about eliminating the radical Islamist group itself.

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