US to establish observation posts on Syria-Turkey border

The US has said it will install observation posts on Syria's northern border with Turkey, in a bid to minimise tensions between Ankara and Washington's Kurdish allies, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday.

"We are putting in observation posts in several locations up along the... northern Syrian border," Mattis told reporters, according to AFP.

The move comes following flare-ups between Turkey and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF] who are leading the war against the Islamic State group in Syria.

Mattis said the aim of the move would be for the SDF not to be "drawn off" the fight with IS, so "that we can crush what's left of the geographic caliphate".

"They will be very clearly marked locations day and night so that the Turks know where they're at," he added, noting that the decision was taken in close cooperation with Turkey.

The SDF called off an offensive on IS last month, after Turkey shelled Kurdish positions from the force in northern Syria.

On the 11 November, the Kurdish-led group announced it would resume its offensive on IS, which is confined to a small patch of territory in the eastern Syrian desert region.

The US has had a troubled relationship with Turkey in recent months, but remains a NATO ally with Ankara.

A chief point of tensions between the US and Turkey has been over a semi-autonomous region in the north of the country run by the Kurdish SDF militia fighters.

Turkey fears this territory will exacerbate separatist ambitions of Kurds in its own country.

Ankara has carried out two operations against Kurdish forces in Syria since 2016.

The last offensive was against the border enclave of Afrin, which it seized in March and is now controlled by pro-Turkish Syrian rebels.