All US troops accounted for after explosion near outpost where Turkey knew American forces were present, official says

This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

US troops deployed near the city of Kobani in northern Syria came under artillery fire from Turkish positions, the Pentagon said on Friday evening.

The explosion occurred near a military outpost in northern Syria and in an area known by the Turks to have US forces present, Navy Capt Brook DeWalt said in a statement.

All US troops are accounted for, but the incident highlights the risks to US troops as Turkey wages an offensive in the region.

Turkey’s defense ministry said it had taken all measures to ensure that no US base was damaged while it responded to harassment fire that originated near the base.

Earlier on Friday, the US defense secretary said Turkey’s “impulsive” decision to invade northern Syria would further destabilize a region already caught up in civil war.

Mark Esper told a news briefing that the withdrawal of US troops from the border did not mean America has abandoned its Syrian Kurdish allies.

Donald Trump’s decision to pull back troops from the Syrian border region has been widely criticized as a tacit “green light” for a Turkish offensive that intensified on Friday, with air and artillery strikes on Kurdish militia.

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“Nobody green-lighted this operation by Turkey, just the opposite. We pushed back very hard at all levels for the Turks not to commence this operation,” Esper said.

Even some of Trump’s staunchest Republican supporters have sharply criticized the decision, which some regard it as a betrayal of the US-armed Kurdish fighters who partnered with US forces against the Islamic State, at great cost.

Esper insisted the Kurds remain a viable partner.

“To be clear, we are not abandoning our Kurdish partner forces, and US troops remain with them in other parts of Syria. The impulsive action of President [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan to invade northern Syria has put the United States in a tough situation,” Esper said.

The Turkish invasion also has raised the prospect of losing control of thousands of captured Islamic State fighters.

Esper called on the Turks to halt their operation, but told reporters that he has no indication they are willing to do so. He lamented “the dramatic harm” done to the two nations’ relationship.

Speaking alongside Esper, Gen Mark Milley said the US-backed Syrian Kurdish military known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is still guarding camps holding Isis prisoners.

Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said the Turkish military operations across the border into Syria were still “relatively limited”.

He said the operations have been carried out near two Syrian villages by about 1,000 members of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army and hundreds of Turkish commando forces. The distance they have penetrated into Syria ranges from a kilometer or two (about 1 mile) in one area to about 10km (6.2 miles) in another.

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Milley emphasized that US forces are still working with Kurdish forces. He said US policy is to continue with a counter-Isis campaign except in one area of the incursion.

He said the Turks “know exactly where American forces are” throughout Syria and in the invasion zone. They have been told that US troops will defend themselves if needed, he said.

Milley said leaders of the Kurdish force have told some of their fighters to move north to defend what they consider to be their territory. But he said the US is “encouraging them to not overreact at this point and to try to tamp things down in order to allow some sort of diplomatic resolution”.