Erdogan Threatens Push on Syrian Kurds

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's president says his country has finalized plans for a "comprehensive and effective" operation that would target U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in Syria east of the Euphrates River.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks on Tuesday came just days after the Turkish military shelled Syrian Kurdish positions in the region. He spoke to ruling party legislators.

Turkish forces have already forced Kurdish militia from the region west of the Euphrates. Ankara considers the militia a terror threat and an extension of Kurdish rebels waging an insurgency in southeast Turkey.

Erdogan says: "Soon, we will descend on them with more comprehensive and effective" force.

Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said Turkish artillery strikes on Sunday hit Kurdish trenches and positions on a hill in the village of Zor Moghar, in rural northern Aleppo.

(KA)