Turkish troops return from the Syrian border, in Karkamis, Turkey, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016. Turkey on Wednesday sent tanks across the border to help Syrian rebels retake the key Islamic State group-held town of Jarablus and to contain the expansion of Syria's Kurds in an area bordering Turkey (AP)
The Pentagon is calling on NATO ally Turkey, as well U.S.-backed fighters aligned against the Islamic State group, to stop fighting each other in northern Syria.
In a written statement on Monday, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook called the clashes south of the Euphrates River town of Jarablus "unacceptable" and a source of "deep concern."
He says the U.S. doesn't support reported Turkish airstrikes and artillery shelling of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters — or Kurdish attacks on Turkish troops — in areas where Islamic State group fighters no longer are operating.
The United States has called on the Syrian Kurds to pull back to the east side of the Euphrates, in accordance with U.S. assurances given to the Turks, and Cook said this pullback has "largely occurred."
Short link: