ANKARA (Sputnik) — The Turkish Air Forces are aiming at Syria’s Raqqa and Manbij after liberating the city of Al-Bab from Daesh terrorists, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday.
“After taking Al-Bab we will head to Manbij and Raqqa. I have discussed these steps with US President Barack Obama during the phone talk yesterday evening,” Erdogan said speaking in Ankara.
In August, Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, began a military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield to clear the Syrian border town of Jarabulus and the surrounding area of Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many other countries. As Jarabulus was retaken, the joint forces of Ankara, the coalition and Syrian opposition continued the offensive southwest.