Arab League 'alarmed' at Turkey’s planned invasion of Syria

The head of the Arab League has said he is alarmed at Turkey's planned cross-border military offensive into north-eastern Syria to target Kurdish forces.

Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in a statement on Wednesday that such an invasion would be a "blatant violation of Syria's sovereignty and threatens Syria's integrity".

He added that Turkey's planned incursion also threatens to inflame further conflicts in eastern and northern Syria, and "could allow for the revival" of the Islamic State group.

Turkey has long threatened an attack on the Kurdish fighters in Syria whom Ankara considers terrorists allied with a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey.

Expectations of a Turkish invasion rose after President Donald Trump on Sunday abruptly announced that American troops would step aside ahead of the Turkish push - a shift in US policy that essentially abandoned the Syrian Kurds.

The People's Protection Units (YPG) spearheaded the fight against the Islamic State extremist group under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) banner with the support of the US-led international coalition.

Revealed: Turkey's three-stage plan to capture northern Syria from Kurdish militias, lasting into 2020

Around 11,000 SDF fighters have been killed in the fight against IS.

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