Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Tuesday they had launched a counter-offensive against the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army to retake areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkey.
The SDF is a key ally of Washington in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the extremist Islamic State group that have spread across the east of the country.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s authoritarian regime earlier this month, clashes have intensified between the US-backed group and the SNA, which has captured the key city of Manbij and its surrounding areas.
The weeks-long intense clashes come as Syria, reeling from more than a decade of war and economic misery, is negotiating its political future after half a century of rule by the Assad dynasty.
Ruken Jamal, a spokeswoman for the women’s protection unit under the SDF, told The Associated Press that her fighters were just seven miles (11 kilometers) from the center of Manbij in their ongoing counteroffensive.
He accused Ankara of trying to weaken the group’s influence in negotiations over Syria’s political future through the SNA.
“Syria is now in a new phase and discussions are ongoing about the future of the country,” Jamal said. “Türkiye is trying to distract us from the fight and out of the talks in Damascus through its attacks.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition war monitor, says dozens of people on both sides have been killed since the SNA launched an offensive in northern Syria against the Kurds earlier this month.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Turkish National Defense Minister Yasser Guler on Tuesday, according to Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. They said they discussed the current situation in Syria and Austin stressed that close and continued coordination is vital to a successful effort to counter IS in the country. They also discussed the importance of setting conditions to make Syria more secure and stable.
Ankara views the SDF as an ally of its archenemy, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which it classifies as a terrorist organization. Turkish-backed armed groups have for years attacked with Turkish jets locations where the SDF are largely present in northern Syria in a bid to create a buffer zone free of the group along the border.
While the SNA was involved in the lightning uprising – led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham – that overthrew Assad, it has continued its pressure against the SDF, which is seen as the second key actor for Syria’s political future. Is seen in.
On Monday, SDF spokesman Farhad Shami said the group’s forces pushed back Turkish-backed rebels from areas near the Tishreen Dam on the Euphrates, a major source of hydroelectric energy. He said the SDF also destroyed a rebel tank southeast of Manbij.
The British-based war monitor said on Tuesday that the Kurdish-led group had captured four villages in areas near a strategic dam after overnight fighting.
Turkish jets also attacked the strategic border city of Kobani in recent days.
As Syria spiraled from rebellion to conflict, the Kurds created a zone of self-rule in northeastern Syria, neither fully cooperating with Assad in Damascus nor as rebels tried to overthrow them.
Even with the Assad family out of the picture, it appears that Ankara’s position will not change, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s historic visit to Syria highlighting the importance of the Kurdish leadership in his meeting with de facto leader Ahmed al- Has maintained a strong position on the group. Shariah of HTS.
“It has turned the region into a hotbed of terror, with PKK members and far-left groups coming from Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Europe,” Fidan said at a news conference after the meeting. “The international community is turning a blind eye to this chaos because of the oversight it provides [against IS],
With the ongoing fighting, SDF commander Mazloum Abedi has expressed concern about a strong resurgence of IS due to the power vacuum in Syria and the ongoing fighting, which has seen the Kurdish-led group carry out scattered attacks and raids against the extremist group. Made unable to give. Sleeper cell.
Thousands of children, family members and supporters of IS militants are still being held in large detention centers in northeastern Syria in areas under SDF control.