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    HomeEuropeTurkey Syria offensive: Erdogan threatens to resume assault when ceasefire ends

    Turkey Syria offensive: Erdogan threatens to resume assault when ceasefire ends

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    's president has threatened to resume an offensive in north-east unless Kurdish fighters withdraw from the border before a ceasefire ends.

    Up to 1,300 People's Protection Units () militia members still had to pull back before 22:00 (19:00 ) on Tuesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned.

    Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels attacked on 9 October to set up a 32km (20-mile) deep “safe zone” in Syria.

    Mr Erdogan agreed to pause the assault last week at the request of the US.

    A US-led multinational coalition relied on the YPG to battle Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria over the past four years, but the Turkish government views it as a terrorist organisation with links to a Kurdish rebel group fighting in Turkey.

    The offensive began after President Donald Trump ordered US troops to leave the border area – a decision that was widely criticised by US lawmakers.

    Media captionCivilians pelt US vehicles with potatoes

    The UN says more than 176,000 people, including almost 80,000 children, have been displaced in the past two weeks in north-east Syria, which is home to some 3 million people.

    Some 120 civilians have been killed in the battle, along with 259 Kurdish fighters, 196 Turkish-backed Syrian rebels and seven Turkish soldiers, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group.

    Twenty civilians have also…

    Continue Reading This Article At BBC News

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