"Afrin operation increases risk to the campaign to defeat ISIS"
Turkey’s attack on Afrin increased the risk to US’ campaign to defeat ISIS, General Joseph Votel, the commander of the U.S. Central Command told congress.
Speaking to the US Senators in the Congress, Votel said that the battle to prevent a resurgence of ISIS or similar groups, however, will take a sustained and focused effort and warned that the Turkish incursion into Afrin is distracting from this goal.
“Many fighters in the SDF have familial ties to the Kurds in Afrin, and they are now forced to choose between completing operations against ISIS fighters in the MERV and assisting their fellow Kurds in northern Syria,” Votel added.
The general warned that Turkey’s actions had “increased risk to our campaign to defeat ISIS.”
