Turkey launched airstrikes and fired artillery at Kurdish fighters in northern Syria on Wednesday. The attacks came just days after American troops withdrew from the area. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the military campaign in a Twitter post. The goal of the offensive, he wrote, is “to prevent the creation of a terror corridor across our southern border, and to bring peace to the area.” Reuters news agency says thousands of people fled the attack in the Syrian town of Ras al Ain and headed toward Hasaka, an area controlled by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF said the airstrikes killed at least two people and wounded two others. A U.S. defense official and a Kurdish official in Syria told the Associated Press that the Turkish offensive has led the SDF to suspend operations against the Islamic State militants. The attack followed a sudden and unexpected decision on Sunday by U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw American troops from northern Syria ahead of the operation.