Turkey-backed Syrian fighters enter Manbij
The main Turkey-backed Syria rebel force said on Friday that its convoys, along with Turkish forces, were moving towards the frontlines with the Syrian town of Manbij, in “full readiness to start military operations to liberate” the town.
Earlier, the Syrian army said it had deployed forces to Manbij after the Kurdish YPG militia urged Damascus to protect the town from a possible Turkish assault.
A resident said the forces had not entered the town, where US troops operate and have a military base.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said the government forces were stationed out the outskirts, between the town and territory under Turkish influence.
Turkish-backed rebel official said the plan to attack SDF territory remained in force.
“There is no Syrian soldier inside Manbij town from the regime’s forces,” said Major Youssef Hamoud, spokesman for the National Army rebel force.
He said his forces were waiting for Washington and Ankara to agree on how US forces would leave Manbij.
The Syrian military statement said troops had raised the national flag in Manbij on Friday and would guarantee security “for all Syrian citizens and others present.”
The resident inside the town said nothing had changed and he had not seen any such flags.
The YPG says its fighters previously withdrew from Manbij to fight Daesh militants in eastern Syria.
“So we invite the Syrian government, to which we belong, to send its armed forces to take over these positions and protect Manbij in the face of Turkish threats,” it said on Friday.
A military spokesman said in a televised announcement that the army would be bent on “crushing terrorism and defeating all invaders and occupiers.”
More than 300 government forces deployed in the Manbij area, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Britain-based war monitor stressed however that regime troops had mostly moved into areas around the city, inside which US and French forces are still believed to be stationed.
Nura Al Hamed, deputy head of the Manbij local authority, said that the regime deployment was the result of Russian-sponsored negotiations.
“The regime forces will not enter the city of Manbij itself but will deploy on the demarcation line” with Turkish-backed Syrian groups, she said.
Hamed said that US and French coalition forces remained at their positions and continued to conduct patrols.
The Kurds issued a statement welcoming the regime advance, a pragmatic shift in alliances that will dash their aspirations for autonomy but could help cut their losses after a US pullout they resent as a betrayal.
“We invite the Syrian government forces to assert control over the areas our forces have withdrawn from, particularly in Manbij, and to protect these areas against a Turkish invasion,” the YPG said in a statement.
The militia “controlling the area with arms does not have the right or power to make a statement or invite other elements on behalf of the local population,” the Turkish defence ministry said.
“We warn all sides to stay away from provocative actions and making statements that will bring further instability to the region,” the ministry said in a statement.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul that there was “nothing certain there” in Manbij after he had discussions with intelligence officials.
He dismissed the regime’s actions as an attempt to use “psychological” warfare.
A Turkish delegation comprising the foreign and defence ministers will go to Moscow on Saturday to discuss the US withdrawal as well as the latest developments in Manbij.
Erdogan said after the delegation’s visit he could have a face-to-face meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Russia.
The YPG have been the backbone of an alliance that has spearheaded the US-backed fight against the Daesh militant group in Syria.
US President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw troops from Syria has alarmed the Kurdish-led fighters who have fought Daesh alongside them for years.
Kurdish leaders are scrambling for a strategy to protect their region stretching across the north and east, where the presence of some 2,000 US troops has so far deterred an incursion by Turkey, which deems the YPG a threat to its own territory and has vowed to crush it.
A deployment of government forces, backed by Russia, is likely to have a similar effect.
Source: gulftoday.ae | Turkey-backed Syrian fighters enter Manbij