The chief commander of the Kurdish forces, Mazloum Abdi, said today that operations against IS have been suspended due to last week's Turkish attacks in northern Syria.

He stressed that after almost a week of Turkish airstrikes in northern Syria, Ankara is preparing for a ground offensive.

The commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces said that Turkish-backed opposition fighters were preparing to take part in the operations.

Abdi added that the Turkish attacks during the past week caused serious damage to the infrastructure.

According to him, Turkey is using the deadly bomb attack in Istanbul on November 13, which Ankara blamed on Kurdish groups. Kurdish organizations have denied any involvement in the Istanbul attack that killed six and wounded dozens.

Washington-backed Syrian Kurds have previously denied any connection to the Istanbul attack.