Pentagon's concerns grow as Syria's Kurds prepare for Turkish assault
Syrian Kurdish commander's plans to defend Kobani and Manbij have US military officials worried about security at prisons holding some 10,000 former IS fighters.
Concerns are running high in the Pentagon over Turkey’s threats to launch yet another military incursion against Syria’s Kurdish-led forces, officials said Tuesday, after warning last week that such a move would threaten the safety of American troops and efforts to contain the Islamic State.
“We do remain concerned about a potential Turkish ground operation in Syria,” Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder told reporters today.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said last week it had halted operations against IS amid preparations to resist a possible assault from Turkey. That has forced the US military to reduce its patrols alongside the SDF, Ryder acknowledged today.
Yet Ryder assured the military is still fully able to keep the lid on IS, and none of the roughly 900 American troops in Syria have been redeployed thus far.
