Turkey ready to enter Kurdish-held Syrian town

Mr Erdogan also reaffirmed his previous vows that Turkey would not limit itself to clearing the Afrin region of the YPG, saying it wanted to carry on to the town of Manbij to the east and then to the Iraqi border.

"Today we are in Afrin and tomorrow we will be in Manbij. And the next day, we will ensure that terrorists are cleared east of the Euphrates River up to the Iraqi border," he said.

Manbij is regarded as a particularly delicate issue as the US - unlike in Afrin - has a presence there, raising the prospect of a direct clash with Turkey.

Meanwhile, an emergency aid delivery crossed front lines into the besieged rebel enclave of eastern Ghouta yesterday but ran quickly into danger from shelling, the top United Nations official in Syria said, amid a fierce government offensive.