WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Friday said Ankara's military incursion into northeastern Syria was damaging US-Turkey relations, adding that the United States was not abandoning its Kurdish partners.

Top US officials have spoken "with all of our counterparts, urged them to stop this incursion," US Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters in a briefing citing the destabilizing effects it is having throughout the region.

"The dramatic harm I feel is being done to our bilateral relationship," Esper added. — Reuters