While international focus is on the devastating bombing going on in Aleppo, another offensive is taking place, much of it in the shadows, which could be a game-changer in Syria’s bloody civil war.
The Turkish military, with armour, air-power and troops on the ground – a thousand of them special forces – are moving deeper into Syria, along with Syrian opposition fighters, setting up a “security zone” across the border.
Operation Euphrates Shield has been marked for Ankara by increasing acrimony with Washington and warming of relations with Moscow. The Turkish forces have attacked Kurdish fighters who are America’s key allies in the fight against Isis, while Russia, busy securing Aleppo for ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has given tacit approval for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s actions in northern Syria.