TURKISH troops and proxy forces opened new fronts against US-allied Syrian Kurdish militia today as the UN’s security council discussed the situation.

The Kurdish YPG said it was fighting Turkish troops and Free Syrian Army gunmen around the border villages of Balia and Qarna in the north-west of Afrin canton, Aleppo province.

Turkey launched the offensive on Saturday despite Syrian warnings of retaliation. Ankara has claimed the right to establish a 20-mile buffer zone after the US announced that it would form a “border force” including the YPG.