orla guerin, bbc news, near the turkey-syria border. laura: earlier i asked orla about the situation on the ground. orla: we have had to pull back about hour from the border because communications were beg jammed in that area, a thategan as soon as the offensive began today. we have had confirmation within the past hour or so from the turkish defense mininiry that the grand offensive is now taking place. turkey has moved incredibly from the air and from thetion ground.er a unil action by a aato nation that has been widely condemned. it has caused alm in the european union and described as by president trump as a bad idea. but of course, many will point out that president trump himself has helped paved the way for all of this. the americans withdrew some of their special forces that were on the border.e that gclear signal tosi president erdogan thatthe could proceed. america denies it was the green light, but it has been read thas way by tian kurdish forces who are under attack. already tonight we are starting to receive reports from insi

our international correspondent orla guerin has more. orla: here is turk's responseti to interal calls for an its forces continuing to pound asnortrn syria, creating a new landscape of the displaced. 100,000 people and counting in just three days. but turkey is paying a price. full state honors toy for two civilians killed to the border, seen here as martyrs in operation peace springs. one coffin is child-size, for aa boy called mohammed, just ne months old, a victim t cket fire by syrian kurdish forces, their fitaliation for turkey's massive assault onm and here, mohammed's familyed joogether in boundless grief. are rian refugees themselves.h she can't hold back her tears. the mufti called on god to give strength to turkey's soldiers and bring a quick victory with few casualties. then a final journey to the border town. at the local mosque, friday prayers became a time mourning for muhammed, whose family fled syria six years ago. his mother gave birth to six girls before having a boy.te she said she w17 years for her only son. now he is

our international correspondent orla guerin reports. orla: urban warfare in northn ria. fighters backed by turkey still battling for control of the border town. they are facing fierce resistance from the kurds. women fighting alongside men. it is rare to get a glimpse of this side of the battle. one week into turkey's insion president erdogan has taken a swath of territory from the kurds and says he won't stop until he completes his so-called safe zone. pres. dogan: operation peace spring will last until we reach a depth 30 to 35 kilometers om manbij to the iraqi border. there is no doubt orn hesitat about this. orla: here is an image that shows the new order in the strategic town of manbij. flyinghe fg for president putin. s forces had a clear run after america's hasty retreat. moscow eerly filling the power vacuum the russians who backed assad are patrolling between the syrians and the turks, keeping them apart and offering to mediate. as president erdogan fights on,a thout is spreading. american foreign policy in the middle east is a casualty. ing toh forces are conti

from the turkey-syria border, orla guerin starts our covage. orla: rolling in to a heom's we troops of the assad regime. handed a victory without firing a shot. riving today in a strategic town, look who is back. the kurds say they had to do a deal w washington left them alone too face a turkish invasion. the choice, they say, was compromise or genocide. further along the key highway, another town also back in assad's hands. loyalists resurfacing. tu"i've kept this pic hidden for years, waiting for this day ," he says. for others syrians, this term is a painful blow. we met abu and his family on the turkish side of the border. he planned to go home once kurdish militia were gone. not now. i as shocked when they told me the regime is now in control. we were happy en the turkish army went in. we were hoping to go back and live happily in our ville. no one can go back with th t regire. mohammed wants to medicine in the u.k. he cannot see a future in his meland. >> i think this idea is impossible because i think the syrian wars endless. orla: does t

fr the border, our international correspondent orla guerin reports. orla: a noisy reception for turkish forces on the move. ambulances and armored personnel carriers close to the syrian border. we filmed this convoy tonight heading to a military base. the first evidence, perhaps, of the buildup to a turkish invasion of syria. earlier, being bussed to the border, syrian rebel fighters backed by turkey. they could be extra manpower for the planned offensive, which is causing havoc internationall ev before it begins. in washington, president trump has been meeting his top brass and trying some damage control. he has denied abandoning kurdish forces, america's key allies in syria. but after their epic battle against i.s., they now feel mighty alone. d what now for that battle? there is growing concern internationally about wh an offensive across this border might do to the global fight against islamic state. small wonder -- there are thousands of i.s. fighters being held in kurdish-run detention centers. the kurds have said if the turks attack, they will h

orla guerin has more. orla: a pullout at dawn. u.s. troops leaving observation posts along the syrian border. washington says only a small numbtroops were moved a short distance. but kurdish forces fear they are clearing the way for a turkish invasion. turkeys's president was viewing serbian troops today, an honor guard on a state visit, as concerns grow internationally about what he is planning for northern syria. before leaving home, he seemed ready for unilateral actionad soon. "we talked to the americans last night," he said, "and we will keep talking. we have made a decision, and asa we always say, we might come suddenly one night." that is a major threat for these kurdish fighters from the sdf, the syrian democratic forces, dm who have fought street to street against islamic state. with help from the u.s. they had been washington's key allies in battle. but with the u.s. pullout, they believe they are being thrown to the wolves. they have vowed to resist an offensive and defend the land at all costs. their spokesman told us that

orla guerin has been to meet some of the survivors and to hear more about their uncertain fate. orla: a night of horror in tripoli. collecting the dead. victims of an airstrike on a libyan-run detention center in a suburb. migrants and refugeewho dreamt of a better life in europe. this was the moment the missile struck. hundreds were locked inside. we met some of them before the attack when we managed to get into the detention center in april. the conflict was closing in, many already living in fear. >> every time we hear bomb. we hear gunshot every day. orla: after the attack, hundrecs who made it out alive headed to a transit camp run by the united nations refugee agency. and here they remain three months on, still trapped in a war zone with their trauma. a 10-year-old keeps reliving what he witnessed. he was pulled from the wreckage by his father, rashied. >> i grabbed him up, put him here in my shoulder, and bring him out. but when i marching on the ground, i marched dead people. orla: when you are stepping on the ground, you were stepping on bodies? >> yes, body, dead people

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border.connected to president trump's explaining what it all means and why it isa explaining what it all means and why it is a significant, if you want to have a look following the links and you'll find them on the website. igor fruman and lev parnas are both trump donors. they are american citizens, but born in the former soviet union — one in belarus, one in ukraine. they are accused of being part of a scheme to funnel foreign money to american political candidates, to buy influence. chris buckler reports from washington. lev parnas and igor fruman were both seen as being important donors to the republican party, that was by the leaders and donald trump himself, they were given access to the white house and indeed mr trump's resort in florida. the fbi arrested the gentleman on charges as a live the united states. for seek to say they have evidence of things between the ukrainian officials are determined, there accused of using an energy company to final funds from sources to the us. protect

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border.eporterfrom bbc turkish in just a few minutes. the british foreign secretary dominic raab has urged the us secretary of state mike pompeo to allow a diplomat‘s wife to return to the uk and face police questions about a fatal traffic accident. harry dunn died when his motorcycle was in a collision with a car near a military base in england used by the us air force. anne sacoolas left the country despite telling police she had no plans to do so. duncan kennedy has the details. harry dunn was just 19 when he was knocked off his motorbike last august. he died of multiple injuries. it happened not far from this american air base in northamptonshire, when he collided with a car driven by the wife of a diplomat who worked at the base. that driver was anne sacoolas, pictured here on her wedding day in 2003. but within two weeks of crash, she and her family returned to the united states. this is the neighbourhood near washington, dc, where they own a home. it was her decision to leave britain d

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border.t gave turkey the green light for its assault on the kurds, has now approved financial sanctions against turkey and phoned president erdogan to call for an immediate truce. three turkish ministers have been blacklisted and had their american assets frozen. the us will also increase tariffs on turkish steel and stop negotiations on a trade deal. vice—president mike pence spoke at a news conference outside the white house. president trump made it very clear that the united states is going to continue to take actions against turkey's economy until they bring the violence to an end. we want an immediate ceasefire, and we want to begin negotiations between turkey and syria defence forces, and president trump again offered to have the united states of america mediate in those discussions. but president erdogan has said he will not back down. our middle east editorjeremy bowen reports from neighbouring iraq. by pulling out and dropping the kurds, the americans lose a stake in the war‘s endgam

our correspondent orla guerin has sent this report.ling in to a heroes‘ welcome — troops of the assad regime, handed a victory without firing a shot, arriving today in the strategic town of ain issa. look who's back. the kurds say they had to do a deal with the regime after washington left them alone to face a turkish invasion. the choice, they say, was compromise or genocide. further along a key highway, the town of tal tamer also back in assad's hands, loyalists resurfacing. "i've kept this picture hidden for years, waiting for this day," he says. but, for other syrians, this about—turn is a painful blow. we met abu saddam and his family on the turkish side of the border. he planned to go home to tal tamer once kurdish militia were gone. not anymore. translation: i was shocked when they told me that the regime is now in control. we were happy when the turkish army went in. we were hoping to go back and live happily in our village. no—one can go back with the regime there. his young relative mohamed wants to study medicine in the uk.

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border.can editorjon sopel. can we talk about the reaction in washington, not least among the president's own republican allies? well, there was astonishment last night when a white house statement came out saying turkey is about to launch its long planned offensive into northern syria, there will be no american troops that can get in the way, so, broadly speaking, here isa the way, so, broadly speaking, here is a green light, go ahead if you wa nt is a green light, go ahead if you want to. that brought an extraordinary reaction from donald trump's allies, who normally get an attack of the vapours at the mere thought of criticising dahlstrom. yet lindsey graham, senator from south carolina, came out and said it was a disaster and the making, nikki haley, the former un ambassador, saying it would be a big mistake to let our allies die. and then we heard that tweet that was quoted there, donald trump rowing back, seemingly. so, last night a green light, today i will destroy your economy, talkin

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border. o'hanlon, senior fellow and director of research in the foreign policy programme at the brookings institution, how he read president trump's move. it is the classic how do you read president trump? we all know 2.5 years in that this is an unusual president, to say the least, and he has already made this kind of statement about syria a year ago, leading to the resignation of then—secretary of defence mattis. and he essentially then reversed course and took mattis‘s position throughout 2019 up until now. so is he going to reverse himself again? i guess we've had some movement of us troops today, but those were in small numbers, and maybe they could come back, or at least not continue the process. i really don't know how to read this guy, and i'm sitting here about eight miles from the white house. no, it's just one of the perplexing presidents. he's reflecting the frustration that a lot of people in the united states and the united kingdom and europe in general feel about this fight in

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border.mer director of the cia, gave us his reaction to the death of al—baghdadi. he was speaking to the bbc‘s michelle fleury. the finality of his death obviously literally puts a stake through the heart of many of the images that he tried to project, not the least of which again was this extraordinary achievement of the caliphate. all of that said, i think every observer has noted that history shows us that the death of a leader of an extremist organisation, even a hugely successful one like baghdadi or osama bin laden or zarqawi or others, does not end the threat posed by the organisation they led. up and down the state of california, wildfires are driving people from their homes. a new blaze close to la has forced many to leave their homes, including arnold schwarzenegger and lebron james. firefighters are trying to protect the getty center, home to priceless works of art. the state's governor has declared a state of emergency. the bbc‘s sophie long has the latest. you'll probably be able

orla guerin, bbc news, at the turkey—syria border. minutes we'll be getting reaction and analysis from washington on this, so do stay with newsday for that. but first let's update you on some of the day's other news: hundreds of people have been arrested at climate protests across the world. in sydney, protestors staged a sit—in on a main road. hundreds were pulled away from the scene. in paris, demonstrators also blocked roads in the city centre and reportedly occupied a shopping centre. meanwhile on new york's wall street, there were arrests after protestors poured fake blood over the famous charging bull statue, staging what they called a "die—in". nada tawfik has more. it has been a scene of really orderly chaos, i would say. the extinction rebellion protesters hitting a lot of the iconic spots of new york city. first at the charging bull, down by wall street — they sprayed it with fake blood and staged a die—in. around 30 people were arrested between there and the stock exchange, where they continued the protestsm and the stock e

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border. later in the programme from an experienced a nalyst the programme from an experienced analyst in the region. let's get some of the day's other news: more than 300 people have been arrested globally following the takedown of the worlds largest dark web site. named welcome to video, the website hosted more than 200,000 videos containing images of child sexual abuse. arrests have taken place across 38 countries, with the site's owner, south koreanjong woo son, facing nine fresh us indictments. bulgarian police have arrested six people suspected of involvement in racist abuse against black england football players on monday evening. another nine men have been identified and are under investigation. the bulgarian commissioner for the interior has said bulgaria does not tolerate such behaviour. qatar has announced plans to scrap completely its restrictive migrant permit system. it has long been criticised by human rights activists as a form of modern slavery. qatar's labour minister says a

orla guerin, bbc news, near the turkey—syria border.nd the change of american strategy that preceded it — could have far—reaching implications — this region has been at the centre of the fight against the extremist group, the so—called islamic state. our middle east editorjeremy bowen looks at the possible wider impact. turkey's president erdogan says he has called for the operation to close what he calls the corridor of terror along the turkish border. it's this drip of territory in north—eastern syria and it might turn into a corridor of disaster if his critics and enemies are correct. several towns were hit in the first hours of the turkish offensive. that meant civilians were faced yet again with a terrible choice of abandoning their homes and risking the dangers of the road or staying in the firing line. in washington, president trump gave the green light to the turkish plan and says he's had enough of the region. the worst mistake that the united states has ever made in my opinion was going into the middle east. it's a quagmire. w

orla guerin, bbc news, at the turkish syria border.ed parliament. after days of unrest, the president has moved the government out of the capital, but demonstrators briefly burst through a police cordon and were driven back with tear gas. the protestors — led by indigenous groups — are demanding an end to austerity and the return of fuel subsidies. our latin america correspondent will grant reports. ecuador is descending into anarchy. a state of emergency has been declared, riot police and the military are out in full force and furious protesters are clashing with them outside the parliament. a handful of demonstrators briefly stormed the building before being hauled out by the police. the reason for the chaos — a fuel price hike imposed by the government and president lenin moreno. a hugely unpopular move with millions of people, many of them from indigenous groups who were already struggling to make ends meet. translation: we've come because they‘ve taken our fuel. that‘s no good for us. translation: the bankers, the rich, the millio

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border. a senior fellow from the hudson institute. he was a former advisor to general david petraeus and worked with the kurdish peshmergas in iraq. he is in arlington, virginia. how are you seeing this?” how are you seeing this? i see it as a mistake. this is not the right time to abandon a us ally, and if you listen to erdogan‘s words, he is talking about conducting a military operation against terrorists. he is not talking about isis, he is talking about the kurdish ypg. and it doesn't matter if americans just move somewhere else in northern syria. they are abandoning those outposts. they are abandoning areas that have been secured by the ypg against isis, against shia militias, against isis, against shia militias, against iran, against russia, against iran, against russia, against a side, and now the way bg is left to take care of themselves, and what that likely means is that areas which have been cleared of isis will probably fall back into isis will probably fall back into isis hands a

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border. let's get some of the day's other news.little later. bulgarian police have arrested six people suspected of involvement in racist abuse against black england football players on monday evening. another nine men have been identified and are under investigation. the bulgarian commissioner for the interior has said bulgaria does not tolerate such behaviour. qatar has announced plans to scrap completely its restrictive migrant permit system. it's long been criticised by human rights activists as a form of modern slavery. qatar's labour minister says a minimum wage will also be introduced from 2020. under the current system, migrant workers have to obtain exit permits to leave the counry and are blocked from changing employers without the employer's permission. officials in california are investigating how two tanks full of ethanol exploded at an energy facility near san francisco. the local fire department has been working to prevent the flames spreading to other tanks. the duke and duchess of cambridge have spent the third day

our correspondent orla guerin is on the syrian/turkish borderfor us now. seen any indication of an unusual turkish military build—up. although, local sources have told us in the last half an hour or so that some us military helicopters flew in, possibly bringing american officials toa possibly bringing american officials to a meeting with the turkish military here at the border but that's unconfirmed. washington spoke very loudly yesterday, although frankly, not always clearly. on the one hand, we had president donald trump warning turkey not to go too far, threatening that, as he put it, if they did anything that was off limits he would decimate the turkish economy. we had the pentagon saying that america was opposed to this bogus operation and would not be pa rt bogus operation and would not be part of it. on the other hand, we had the physical realities on the ground, we had the americans withdrawing some of their special forces from two observation posts here on the border. now, much as the americans have denied it, that is seen very americans have deni

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border.a have accused president donald trump of having a quote "meltdown" during a private meeting at the white house. us house leader nancy pelosi was meeting with the president to discuss the situation in syria. it came after the house of representatives voted overwhelmingly to condemn president trump's decision to remove us troops from the region. 127 republicans joined their democrat counterparts in order to pass the resolution. here's what nancy pelosi had to say after her meeting with the president. what we witness on the part of the president was a meltdown, sad to say. i think that vote, of more than two to one of republicans, voted to oppose what the president did and probably got to the president because he was shaken up by it and thatis because he was shaken up by it and that is why we could not continue in the meeting because he was not facing the reality of it. there were chaotic scenes as the hong kong parliament re—opened today, forcing its leader, carrie lam, to abandon her an

—— orla guerin. hear the beginnings of that turkish bombardment. just across the border wall, we were able to see smoke rising from the turkish town —— town of al abby at, there was also incoming fire from the turkish side. we could see it was a residential area, we could see high—rise blocks, and we are no from the information coming out of syria that civilians are once again having to flee. who knows how many times these people have had to pick up their bags and go and while turkey are describing this operation as the springs of peace, certainly for those trapped on the other side, this is one more round battle in what has been an agonisingly long war. this is simply the beginning, what we are seeing now is strikes taking place from the air. turkey has made it clear, though, this will also be a land assault. we expect to see that coming in the next few days and there are grave warnings are concerns from the international community about what this will mean in the humanitarian side of it for all the

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border.ople they suspect were involved in racist abuse against black english football players on monday evening. the further nine men have been identified after an investigation by police authorities. the bulgarian commissionerfor the interior police authorities. the bulgarian commissioner for the interior has said bulgaria does not tolerate such behaviour. the government has dropped a plan about age verification checks, which would have forced corn companies to prove the user was an adult or potentially face a ban. the governments of the policy which was due to come into force in april last year was not going ahead, after repeated delays and forfears going ahead, after repeated delays and for fears that it would not work. doctors in italy, caring for a seriously brain—damaged girl from london, say they hope that she will eventually be able to return to britain and be cared for at home by herfamily. five—year—old tafida raqeeb was flown to genoa yesterday, after her parents won a high court b

orla guerin, bbc news. believed to be british, who featured in our reporting yesterday are safe following the turkish airstrikes according to the charity save the children. their parents are thought to have died fighting for the islamic state group. our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville met the children in the camp and discovered they'd been taken to safety. he joins us from beirut. where are these children and what is happening to them? the three children were plucked from the fire right at the very last minute just as the camp that they were in was about to be overwhelmed by turkish forces, the un extract of the children and in the last few minutes 01’ children and in the last few minutes or hours i should say we received a statement from the charity save the children saying they were moved into the care of a local agency. as the troops advanced they were in the heart of a maelstrom, with turkish forces moving on from one side and of course the regime now moving into that area. the children we

our international correspondent orla guerin reports from the border.ances and armoured personnel carriers close to the syrian border. we filmed this convoy tonight heading to a military base, the first evidence, perhaps, of the build—up to a turkish invasion of syria. and earlier, being bussed to the border, syrian rebel fighters backed by turkey. they could be extra manpower for the planned offensive, which is causing havoc internationally, even before it begins. in washington, president trump has been meeting his top brass and trying some damage control. he has denied abandoning kurdish forces, america‘s key allies in syria. but after their epic battles against is, they now feel mighty alone. and what now for that battle? there‘s growing concern internationally about what an offensive across this border might do to the global fight against islamic state. small wonder. there are thousands of is fighters being held in kurdish—run detention centres. the kurds have said if the turks attack, they will have to focus on that fight. so defeated is fighters l

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border.ormer director of the cia, gave us his reaction to the death of al baghdadi. he was speaking to the bbc‘s michelle fleury. well, i think this is very significant. it's a huge achievement. baghdadi was, after all, the leader who established achievements that had never been seen before by islamist extremists, not even by osama bin laden. he established the first caliphate. controlled an area that i think is roughly the size of great britain. certainly the size of the state of indiana. a very large portion of northern iraq and north—eastern syria. and also took the whole effort on social media and the whole effort on social media and the internet to an entirely new level. so this... the finality of his death obviously literally puts a stake through the heart of many of the images that he tried to project, not the least of which again was this extraordinary achievement of the caliphate. all of that said, i think every observer has noted that history shows us that the death of a leader of a

orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border.nt trump's public stance, his vice—president, mike pence, and secretary of state, mike pompeo, are due to arrive in turkey tomorrow to talk to the erdogan government about calling a ceasefire. in a moment, we'll be talking to our middle east editor, jeremy bowen, who's in the turkish capital, ankara. but first to our north america editor, jon sopel, in washington. what do we know now about the kind of pressure, if any, that president trump has been putting on the turkish government? well, i think he has been applying pressure, but he has been applying pressure, but he has also been undercutting the position of mike pence for this visit to ankara tomorrow by saying, we don't have a dog in the fight, this is between turkey and syria, nothing to do with us. how is america going to call for an immediate ceasefire if that is their position? but a letter has been released which was sent last week to president erdogan in which he says, don't be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people

he went on: here's orla guerin again.ning a staunch ally that is played such a key role in the fight against islamic state. there have been thousands of kurdish fighters killed in this battle they have managed over time with help from the us to push out ias from a large swathe of territory. and how they feel the job is done there being abandoned and they're expecting this turkish offensive is going to be imminent. one of the key questions being raised his with a count of the ias fighters that are currently being held in detention centres. the estimates range up to 10,000 fighters and perhaps as many as 2000 are believed to be foreign fighters. kurdish officials have said to the bbc, officials in the syrian democratic forces who are led by the current. they are said to the bbc that if there is a turkish advance, we will have to focus on that flight. we will have to focus on that flight. we will have to take many of our forces from these prisons, will have to withdraw all of our forces from areas that have been recently libe

orla guerin, bbc news, on the hrkey-syria border. laura: as you jurd, president trump has doubled down on his decision to pull american troops out of syria and leave kurdish troops to fight fose thes against the turkish offensive. senator lindsey graham is usually a staunch supporter of the president, but he strongly disagrees with this ve. sen. graham: from president trump's point of view, if isis comes back, you will own it like obama owned iraq. it will be worse becau you had obam's mistake to learn from and you failed to do so. laura: i'm joined by ron christie, former advisor to george w. bush. senator lindsey graham said the president undercut his vice president, who leads tonight for ankara, by saying that turkey's invasion of syria has nothing to do with . would you agree? ron: good evening to you. no, i wouldn't. i came back from boston i talked to a gentleman from northern syria and he said his countrymen felt very much betrayed by what the presid ht has done. removedn amerioops when the turkish government felt they could n

but first, our international correspondent, orla guerin, is on the turkey—syria border, just a few miles. what does his death mean for the region, do you think? just last night at this time, us special forces were still in operation less than four miles from here, hunting down the leader of the islamic state. tonight, those who lived in iraq and syria under his murderous rule and those whose loved ones were butchered by is may welcome the news of his death. we have also heard reports in the last few hours, still unconfirmed, that the iron spokesman has also been killed in a separate rate. but president trump is adamant he has killed the head of the snake, that the leader of ijaz has gone, his caliphate is already gone which once covered an area the size of britain, but the ideology and the threat will not die with al—baghdadi. there are i a sleeper cells here in the region active in iraq carrying out campaigns of assassinations against local leaders, and they have been warnings tight from inside syria that those cells could carry out revenge attacks. boris johnson cells could carry out r

our international correspondent, orla guerin, reports from the syrian—turkish border.l battling the kurds in the border town of ras al—ain. but one week into turkey's invasion, president erdogan now controls a swathe of territory here and says he won't stop until he completes his plan. translation: operation peace spring will last until we reach a depth of 30—35 kilometres from manbij to the iraqi border. there is no doubt or hesitation about this. and in the strategic town of manbij, an image that shows the new order — russian power on the move, flying the flag for president putin. his forces had a clear run here, filling the vacuum left by us troops. the russians, who back president assad, are patrolling between the syrians and the turks, keeping them apart. they are the power brokers now. president erdogan is letting the guns do the talking, despite us sanctions. the us vice president and secretary of defence are rushing here to meet him tomorrow for a heart to heart. but america's voice may be drowned out. well, turkish forces are continuing to pound targets across

the bbc‘s orla guerin is on the turkish—syria border with this report.ound of warfare. the town of ras al—ain under heavy bombardment, one of several just inside the border in the kurdish—controlled north—east. it's the start of a turkish offensive that is alarming europe, has been condemned by america and is bringing fresh instability to the middle east. and, once again, syrian civilians forced to flee. a local journalist saw them go. thousands of people migrating to the south side. the turkish army are shelling by mortars everywhere. from across the border in turkey, we could see smoke rising in the town of tal abyad. the bbc understands turkish troops are now on the ground there. well, here at the border, we have been seeing and hearing the opening salvos in turkey's assault on north—eastern syria. in the last half—an—hour or so, we've heard mortar rounds and artillery fire and there has been incoming mortar fire from syria. president erdogan is calling this operation peace spring but, for civilians across the border on the syrian side, this is going

our correspondent orla guerin is on the turkish side of the border.ort contains flashing images. the front line in a conflict that is spreading fast. turning northern syria into a battleground. alarming washington and europe. the smoke is rising from the key town of ras al—ain. and inside the town, this pro—turkish fighter says "we've just arrived". and give thanks to god. then ducks to avoid incoming fire. but kurdish forces can't offer much resistance. ras al—ain has all but fallen and other towns are expected to follow. the turks and their allies are stamping their authority here. and syrian kurdish forces are looking very much alone, urging the us allies to keep their side of the bargain after the kurds died in their thousands fighting islamic state. translation: our allies guaranteed us protection but they abandoned us without warning and decided unjustly to withdraw their troops from the turkish border. we call on our allies to fulfil their moral obligations. us forces aren't far away but they're holding fire as the kurds take heavy casualties.

orla guerin was there. their lives others rushing towards the scene, trying to find shelter. there was a least one person injured and another was taken away from this building across the road and that is the office of the local governor and we could see on the ground the evidence of an artillery strike. so this was incoming fire from the other side of the border. there was a second strike further down the street we see the smoke rising and the authorities have pushed us back now. they are afraid of more incoming fire and for the first time this offensive that turkey is carrying out across the border in syria, that has now started to feel very real on the side of the border. turkey says it wants to establish what it calls a ‘safe zone‘ to the south of the border. in that area are a number of kurdish—controlled camps which house people who've been displaced by the syrian civil war — marked with squares. the kurds are also running a number of prisons which hold roughly 12,000 suspected islamic state fighters.

orla guerin is there.s than a week, president erdogan has created a dangerous new reality here. i mean, northeastern syria has been turned into a battle ground. the latest figures we have from the united nations are at that about 160,000 people have been displaced. and now we have a shift in the balance of power. the kurds have had no options but to throw themselves upon the mercy of the asad regime because they feel utterly abandoned — and have been abandoned, in effect, by their allies, the americans. so they've had to turn back to present a solid. —— president assad. his troops have been moving into towns today. we know american troops will be pulled back from the border, so this is a new moment — and there is the fear that this is a situation which could spiral very quickly out of control internationally now. there is criticism from the european union for the arab league from the united nations secretary general. he said again today that he is gravely concerned. he called for restraint and negotiation.

the bbc‘s orla guerin is on the border. in syria, a new round of warfare.l—ain under heavy bombardment, one of several just inside the border in the kurdish—controlled north—east. it's the start of a turkish offensive that is alarming europe, has been condemned by america and is bringing fresh instability to the middle east. and, once again, syrian civilians forced to flee. a local journalist saw them go. thousands of people migrating to the south side. the turkish army are shelling by mortars everywhere. from across the border in turkey, we could see smoke rising in the town of tal abyad. the bbc understands turkish troops are now on the ground there. well, here at the border, we have been seeing and hearing the opening salvos in turkey's assault on north—eastern syria. in the last half—an—hour or so, we've heard mortar rounds and artillery fire and there has been incoming mortar fire from syria. president erdogan is calling this operation peace spring but, for civilians across the border on the syrian side, this is going to feel like one more round of bat