US-led joint task force posts SDF hashtag on Twitter

By Burak Karacaoglu and Levent Tok

ANKARA (AA) - A U.S.-led special operations task force against Daesh terrorists posted SDF hashtag to support YPG/PKK terrorists on its Twitter account on Wednesday.

The Special Ops Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (SOJTFOIR) posted the hashtag in a move to support the terrorists against Turkey’s imminent military offensive in northern Syria.

The YPG/PKK terror group uses the acronym SDF as a cover for receiving U.S. support. The terrorists have occupied 28% of Syrian territory.

A number of Twitter users reacted to the tweet by typing TSK, abbreviation for the Turkish Armed Forces.

The SOJTFOIR later removed the tweet.

On Sunday, the U.S. ruled out any assistance or involvement in Turkey's planned operation east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria.

In the statement, the White House said Turkey will soon carry out its "long-planned operation" into northern Syria.

"The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS [Daesh] territorial ‘Caliphate,’ will no longer be in the immediate area," said the statement, using an alternate name for the terror group Daesh.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is its Syrian branch.

Turkey plans to resettle two million Syrians in a 30-kilometer-wide safe zone (19 miles) to be set up in Syria, stretching from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border, including Manbij.

Since 2016, Turkey’s Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern Syria have liberated the region from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, making it possible for nearly 400,000 Syrians who fled the violence to return home to western Syria.

* Writing by Sena Guler