Turkey threatens Syria's Kurds: A headache for the US?

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has renewed his threats to crush Syria's Kurds, this time in northeastern areas of the war-torn country where US forces are present.

Turkish shelling has hit positions of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), as Ankara warns of a new offensive to clear the militia from its border.

The United States has scrambled to contain the tensions, as it seeks to retain the YPG as a key partner in its battle against a resilient Islamic State group.

Since 2016, Turkey has carried out two operations against Kurdish forces in Syria, the last of which saw Ankara-backed Syrian rebels seize the northwestern enclave of Afrin in March.

Erdogan has since repeatedly threatened to march east into more Kurdish-held territory, but analysts say the timing adds weight to the latest warnings.

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