by James Tweedie

TURKEY invaded northern Syria yesterday with US military and diplomatic backing, striking at both Islamic State (Isis) and Kurdish forces.

Turkish troops and up to 20 tanks accompanied by extremist insurgents pulled from fronts in the Syrian civil war to capture Jarabulus, the key Isis-held border town in the north-east of Aleppo province.

The “Euphrates Shield” operation secured the town and the village of Keklijah three miles to the west by the afternoon.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the offensive would target “terrorist groups like Daesh (Isis) and PYD,” referring to the Democratic Union Party whose military wing are the People’s Protection Units (YPG) of Jojava.

The Syrian government and the PYD immediately condemned the “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty.

The Foreign Ministry in Damascus said: “What is happening in Jarabulus now isn’t fighting terrorism as Turkey claims; rather it is replacing one type of terrorism with another.”

PYD co-president Saleh Muslim warned: “Turkey will lose in the Syrian quagmire just like Isis.”

The YPG claimed the Turks were deliberately shelling and bombing Kurdish districts in the town and had killed 29 civilians, and forced 3,000 to flee, while wounding one guerilla.

The PYD’s Hawar news agency claimed the invasion force included terrorist groups such as the Levant Conquest Front — al-Qaida in Syria — and the CIA-armed Nour al-Din al-Zinki that beheaded a Palestinian refugee boy in Aleppo last month.

The latest escalation came less than 48 hours after the US imposed a no-fly-zone over northern Syria, where some 100 of its troops have been acting as advisers to the Kurdish YPG militia.

In an indication of the invasions objectives, US Vice- President Joe Biden told the YPG to withdraw east of the Euphrates river — echoing threats by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The YPG “must as soon as possible cross to the east of the Euphrates. That’s what the US promised,” Mr Cavusoglu said. If not, “we will do what is necessary.”

Mr Biden said the YPG faced losing US military support that helped them capture Manbij — a few miles south of Jarabulus — after a two-month siege.

Speaking after flying in to Ankara for talks with the government, Mr Biden said: “they cannot — will not — under any circumstance get American support if they do not keep that commitment,” to withdraw.

An unnamed senior US official travelling with Mr Biden confirmed that the US-led coalition — which includes the RAF — was supporting the Turkish invasion.

On Friday US jets invaded Syrian air space on the pretext that Syrian planes attacking YPG forces trying to seize the north-eastern city of Hassakeh might hit its troops — hundreds of miles from the fight against Isis in Aleppo.

Stop the War convener Lindsey German condemned the intervention, saying: “This is yet another dangerous move in the many-sided conflict in which Turkey and its Nato allies have long been involved.

“Turkey’s war against the Kurds has been longstanding,” she pointed out.

“Its past support for Isis has included allowing it to cross the Turkish border to sell oil.”

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