THE Turkish, Russian and US military chiefs of staff met yesterday to discuss tensions between their forces in Syria.

Turkey’s General Hulusi Akar, Russia’s General Valery Gerasimov and US Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford met in the Turkish city of Antalya, near the Syrian border.

On Monday the Pentagon confirmed rumours that it had sent troops to the Syrian town of Manbij to keep the Turkishbacked Free Syrian Army insurgent alliance from clashing with the Kurdish YPG militia, which enjoys US support.

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said the troops were flying the US flag on the town’s western outskirts to “reassure and deter.

“It’s a visible reminder, for anybody who’s looking to start a fight, that the only fight that should be going on right now is with Isis,” he said.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the generals’ meeting would continue today.

“If we cannot establish co-ordination, the risk of a conflict that we would not desire can emerge,” he said. “That’s the real aim of the meeting.”

On Monday, Mr Yildirim admitted that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s vow to seize Manbij from the YPG would not be kept.

“Without co-ordination with the US and Russia in Manbij, there is no point in continuing operations,” the prime minister said.

South of Manbij, the Syrian army continued its rapid advance yesterday, approaching the Khafseh pumping station just three miles from the Euphrates river, where Isis has cut off water supplies to the nearby city of Aleppo.

Further east, the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces drove Isis out of the Kibar military base just 30 miles from the Isis-besieged city of Deir Ezzor.