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Turkey's Offensive Against Kurdish Fighters in Syria Runs into Problems
(Washington Post) Louisa Loveluck and Zakaria Zakaria - A Turkish offensive against Kurdish fighters has bogged down in the mountains and mud of northern Syria. After two weeks, Russia restricted Turkish access to the airspace. Without air cover, the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army, who are doing most of the fighting in the Turkish offensive, have found it hard to advance. On the ground and in the air, Ankara is suffering losses. At least 28 troops have died during the offensive, two of them helicopter pilots killed Saturday, and Syrian rebel battalions said their casualties were mounting. The Afrin region's mountains are riddled with tunnels, giving Kurdish forces the advantage in surveillance and surprise. So far, the offensive has not progressed far beyond the Turkish border, according to Kino Gabriel, a spokesman for a U.S.-backed force composed primarily of Syrian Kurds.