Fars News — Jan 25, 2018

Turkish F-16

Turkish F-16

Media sources confirmed that 2 US military men have been killed in Turkey’s airstrike on the town of Afrin in Syria’s Aleppo province.

The Arabic service of Sputnik news agency quoted media outlets as reporting that the two US military advisors were killed in the Turkish fighter jets’ attacks on areas near Afrin.

The sources said that no official source has yet confirmed the report, adding that Pentagon’s procrastination in covering such incidents has become a normality.

Earlier this week, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said the US and Ankara may come face-to-face in Manbij, though the possibility is “small”, while earlier President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara will “thwart games” on its borders and start with Manbij.

Turkey will also continue to use the airspace across Afrin region in Northern Syria, where it recently launched Operation ‘Olive Branch’, Bozdag told Reuters in an interview.

At the same time, he said, Ankara is ready for all types of cooperation with Russia and the US if these actions would bring peace to the region.

Erdogan has criticized the administration of former US President Barack Obama for failing to keep its promises to Turkey in Syria.

“There was an operation during Mr Obama’s administration. That operation aimed to clear terrorists from Manbij. But he failed to keep up with his promise and cheated us,” Erdogan said, adding that Ankara has done its part, but Washington has not.

“They [the Obama administration] promised they would send the terrorists in this area to the East of the Euphrates and leave Manbij,” he stressed.

Source