- Turkish military begins major offensive into Syria against ISIS
- Report: Syria used chlorine in bombs against civilians
- US-backed Kurdish forces pull back from Euphrates
- WSJ editorial: Turkey moves on Syria
Turkey sent tanks, warplanes and special operations forces into northern Syria on Wednesday in its biggest plunge yet into the Syrian conflict, enabling Syrian rebels to capture an important Islamic State stronghold within hours. – New York Times
Kurdish-led forces in Syria have withdrawn to the east of the Euphrates River, American and Turkish officials said Thursday, after Vice President Biden publicly threatened to pull U.S. support if the fighters remained in areas where Turkey says they pose a threat to its national security. – Washington Post
The offensive launched from Turkey against an Islamic State-held town on Syria’s northern border raised the stakes in a deadly power struggle between two U.S.-backed forces—one Arab and one Kurdish—both battling the extremist group. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Life expectancy for men in Syria has declined by five years since the war there began in 2011, a new analysis of mortality data has found, a sudden collapse not seen since the decline that Russian men experienced after the end of the Soviet Union. – New York Times
Pentagon officials said that U.S.-trained Syrian forces helped recapture a strategic border town on Wednesday, highlighting the role of local fighters who received American support in an earlier, ill-fated effort to build up an army against the Islamic State. – Washington Post’s Checkpoint
The U.S. may have killed civilians in an airstrike meant to hit an Islamic State target in Syria this week, the military said on Wednesday. – Washington Examiner
At least nine more Turkish tanks entered northern Syria on Thursday as part of an operation aimed at driving Islamic State out of the border area around Jarablus and stopping Kurdish militia fighters from seizing territory, Reuters witnesses said. - Reuters
Syrian rebels who seized Jarablus from Islamic State in a Turkey-backed operation on Wednesday have advanced up to 10 km (6 miles) south of the border town, rebel sources and a group monitoring the war said on Thursday. - Reuters