Türkiye sends tanks and artillery to border with Syria

Turkey has increased its military presence along its southern border to counter threats from Kurdish rebels in northern Syria, state news agency Anadolu reported on August 5.

According to Anadolu, Türkiye has sent artillery units to Kilis province to reinforce its forces in the area.

Turkish army tanks participate in the campaign to sweep IS militants in the Syria-Türkiye border area. (Source: AFP/VNA)

Meanwhile, the private Dogan news agency said Türkiye had deployed six convoys, including tanks and artillery, opposite the Kurdish-controlled Afrin region in Syria.

Türkiye strongly opposes the presence of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria. Recently, Türkiye has continuously bombed Kurdish positions in northern Syria.

Ankara's policy here has largely focused on containing the growing influence of Kurdish groups, which have established autonomous regions since the Syrian war began in 2011.

Ankara considers the YPG a security threat, viewing the force as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish government for years.

The YPG is a key force in the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that has been waging a campaign for months to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from IS. The US sees the YPG as an ally in the campaign against IS in Raqqa, the IS stronghold in Syria.

Relations between the US and Türkiye, two NATO allies, have become strained after the US supported arming the YPG.

In another development, on the same day, a military source said that the Lebanese army will not cooperate with the Syrian army to fight IS in the border area between the two countries, denying previous information from local media.

The source affirmed that the Lebanese army has enough capacity to deal with and destroy any organization without help from the region or the international community.

A day earlier, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced that Lebanon would launch an attack on IS militants in the border area with Syria in the next few days. Later, Lebanon's al-Joumhouria newspaper reported that the Lebanese and Syrian armies had direct coordination regarding the campaign to attack IS./.

According to Vietnamplus