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Erdogan threatens fresh military campaign in Syria

The Kurdish-held town of Tell Rifaat stands out as the focal point of a potential new crisis in northern Syria as Turkey threatens another military offensive amid discords with Russia and the United States.

Tell Rifaat
A Turkish-backed Syrian fighter holds a position in the village of Tal Malid, about 12 kilometres east of Tell Rifaat, in the north of Aleppo province on Dec. 22, 2018. — NAZEER AL-KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised the specter of a new Turkish military campaign against Kurdish forces in northern Syria following the killing of two Turkish special force police in a rocket attack on a Turkish convoy in the region. 

“We have run out of patience regarding certain areas in Syria that have been the source of terrorist attacks on our country. We are determined to eliminate the threats originating from those areas,” Erdogan said Oct. 11, referring to Kurdish-held Tell Rifaat, which lies to the south of Marea, where the attack took place the day before. 

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