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Turkey raises stakes in Syria with shelling of Kurdish targets

The Turkish military has fired on Syrian Kurdish positions east of the Euphrates River for the first time in a move that could heighten tensions with the United States.
A Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army fighter fires from a tank in Rajo, Syria March 3, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC140AB204D0

Turkey’s attack on Kurdish militants east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria for the first time escalates its fight against the US-allied group and raises the risk of a confrontation with American forces fighting alongside the rebels.

The shelling of People’s Protection Units (YPG) positions on the Euphrates’ eastern shore on Sunday came just two days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave his “final warning” to Syrian Kurdish fighters to retreat and accused the United States of dragging its feet in an agreement to remove the group from Turkey’s border.

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