- 'Operation Peace Spring' -

On October 9, 2019, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launches Operation Peace Spring against Kurdish forces in Syria.

He says the offensive targets the "terrorists" of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia and the Islamic State group.

Erdogan also wants to establish a "safe zone" on the Syrian side of the border where Turkey could send back some of the 3.6 million refugees it hosts from the eight-year-old civil war.

The border towns of Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad both come under heavy Turkish air bombardment. The ground offensive begins hours later.

- International outcry -

US President Donald Trump calls the Turkish incursion a "bad idea". He says he hopes Erdogan will act "rationally", and that the operation should be "humane".

Yet it is Washington's withdrawal two days earlier of US troops in northern Syria near the Turkish border that clears the way for the offensive.

Several countries including many in Europe express concern for civilians in the targeted areas. Fears that the jihadists detained by the Kurds could escape are also widespread.

- Jihadists -

The next day Turkish forces escalate their bombardment as the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fight to halt their advance.

Kurdish officials say five IS prisoners have escaped from a facility in the border city of Qamishli housing mostly foreign jihadists after shelling nearby.

The Kurdish administration says some 12,000 men are held in seven detention centres across Kurdish-controlled areas.

The Pentagon says US troops near the northern Syrian border have come under artillery fire from Turkish positions. Turkey denies targeting American troops.

On October 13, Kurdish authorities say nearly 800 relatives of foreign members of IS have escaped from a displacement camp at Ain Issa.

- Damascus sends in troops -

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor says Turkish forces and their proxies have seized the key border town of Tal Abyad.

The Pentagon says Trump has ordered the withdrawal of up to 1,000 troops from northern Syria.

The Kurdish administration, which accuses Washington of having abandoned them, announces a deal with the Damascus government on a Syrian troop deployment near the border with Turkey. On October 14, the Syrian regime sends troops towards the border.

A US official says the Pentagon has begun removing all its troops in northern Syria.

- Regime takes Manbij, Kobane -

On October 15, Syrian government forces take full control of Manbij. Russian troops patrol the area to prevent Turkish-Syrian clashes.

On the 16th, Erdogan urges Kurdish forces to lay down arms and retreat from northern Syria. He dismisses calls for a ceasefire from Trump, who has sent his Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Turkey.

In the early evening, Syrian regime troops and Russian soldiers enter the key border town of Kobane.

The UN Security Council warns of a risk of "dispersion" of jihadist prisoners, but stops short of calling for a halt to Turkey's offensive.

Trump denies that he had given Erdogan a "green light" for the offensive. He says the Kurds "are not angels" and that the Kurdish rebel PKK, who have waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey, were "probably" a bigger terror threat than the Islamic State group.

The leader of the massively outgunned SDF announces it is "freezing" anti-IS operations.