Turkey, Syrian Kurds at loggerheads over Raqqa offensive
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Turkey said Tuesday that the US-backed and Kurdish-led forces leading an assault on the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa should not enter the city itself but merely help encircle it, a suggestion dismissed by the Kurds.
The dispute between the two US allies threatens to complicate efforts to drive ISIS out of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the extremist group's self-described caliphate.
The US-backed Syria Democratic Forces, which include Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen fighters, have driven IS from large swaths of territory, but Turkey views the Syrian Kurds who dominate the group as an extension of the Kurdish insurgency raging in its southeast.
