Ankara: The Turkish government on Saturday denied that its army had launched attacks on US special forces deployed in northeastern Syria, as it was earlier claimed by the Pentagon. "Attacking US forces is out of the question. There's the necessary coordination between our forces and the Americans," Turkey's defence minister, Hulusi Akar, said at a press conference.

Pentagon sources said that Turkish artillery fire had landed near the US base near the Syrian border city of Kobane. Turkey aims to carve out a so-called safe zone that will extend about 32 km into northern Syria, stretching from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border.