US urges Turkey to remain focused on Daesh, not attack Syria’s Afrin

Syrian children look at a building that was damaged in a missile attack on the isolated Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northern Syria. (AFP)

WASHINGTON: The US State Department urged Turkey on Thursday not to take military action against Afrin region in Syria and called instead for Ankara to remain focused on fighting Daesh militants in the region.
Asked about signs that Turkey was preparing to strike a Kurdish militia in Afrin, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told a briefing: “We would call ... on the Turks to not take any actions of that sort. ... We don’t want them to engage in violence but we want them to keep focused on Daesh.”