Turkey launches airstrikes near US base in Syria
Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin reports on how the Pentagon has responded to recent airstrikes that threatened the safety of US personnel in Syria in “Special Report.”
The Pentagon has urged Turkey to withdraw from its plan to invade Syria, as the operation could endanger US troops in the country.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offered condolences to his counterpart, Turkey’s Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, for the loss of life in the Istanbul bombing that occurred last month and prompted action. military in Syria.
But Austin stressed that the airstrikes, and the impending ground invasion of Syria, directly threaten the safety of US personnel working in Syria.
“Secretary Austin called for de-escalation and shared the Department’s strong opposition to a new Turkish military operation in Syria,” according to a readout of the call between Austin and Akar.
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Turkey launched a series of airstrikes in northern Syria following a November 13 airstrike that killed six people and injured at least 80 others.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a press briefing following a virtual Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at the Pentagon November 16, 2022, in Arlington, Virginia.
(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Turkish authorities arrested a Syrian Arab woman whom they linked to Kurdish militias, but the militias denied any involvement.
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Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan authorized a military response in Syria, dubbed “Operation Claw-Sword”, which aimed to wipe out the People’s Defense Units (YPG) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, on May 14.
(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
A Kurdish general told Fox News last week that NATO ally Turkey plans to carry out a massive ground invasion of Syria in an effort to target the same Kurdish groups that partnered with the US military in its campaign. against ISIS.
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US military officials have also expressed concern that the operation could end up providing an opportunity for as many as 10,000 ISIS detainees to escape confinement.
Women walk in the al-Hol camp that is home to some 60,000 refugees, including families and supporters of the Islamic State group, many of them foreign nationals, in Hasakeh province, Syria, on May 1, 2021.
(AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File)
Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said Wednesday: “The recent airstrikes in Syria directly threaten the safety of American personnel working in Syria with local partners to defeat ISIS and maintain custody of more than 10,000 ISIS detainees.
Ryder noted that “an immediate drawdown is necessary to maintain focus on the mission of defeating ISIS and to ensure the safety of personnel on the ground committed to the mission of defeating ISIS.”
A military official said that Syria presents the ideal conditions for ISIS to continue to grow its ranks and regain its previous operational capability: CENTCOM chief General Erik Kurilla visited the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria and said ISIS has sought to exploit the conditions in the camp as a means of winning new recruits to his cause.
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“The SDF’s mission to eliminate ISIS from the camp continues – this is a far-reaching and critical operation that will make the camp safer for all residents,” Kurilla said after his visit. “We have already seen ISIS members enslave women and girls chained inside the camp, torture camp residents and seeking to spread his vile ideology.”
Fox News’ Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.
