As clashes between Turkey and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) continue, US armored vehicles are reported to be deploying to areas in northern Syria.
Footage posted online by Syrian activists showed a convoy of US armored vehicles traveling on a rural road in the village of Darbasiyah.
The US deployment came a few days after the Turkish military carried out airstrikes on Tuesday on Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants near Iraq’s Sinjar Mountains and in northeastern Syria.
Clashes started between the YPG and the Turkish military after the former carried out a mortar attack targeting two Turkish military outposts in the southern province of Hatay on the Syrian border.
On Friday, the Turkish military announced that 11 YPG militants were killed in retaliation for a rocket attack.
The Turkish military had earlier stated that 11 border posts had been subjected to 13 attacks from areas controlled by the YPG, which is considered a terrorist group by Ankara due to its links to the PKK.
Acting US State Department spokesperson Mark Toner criticized Turkey for attacking Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq, adding that the airstrikes were not approved by the US-led coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). He also emphasized that coordination is necessary to protect coalition personnel serving in both Syria and Iraq.