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Syrian army takes control of flashpoint Kurdish town threatened by Turkey Syrian troops mass at edge of Kurdish town threatened by Turkey
(about 1 hour later)
Syria’s military says it has taken control of the flashpoint Kurdish-held town of Manbij, where Turkey has threatened an offensive. Syria’s military has arrived at the frontlines of the flashpoint Kurdish-held town of Manbij, as Kurdish fighters appealed to the Syrian government for help in the face of the imminent threat of attack by Turkey.
The announcement was quickly welcomed by the Kremlin, whose spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it a “positive step” that could help stabilise the situation. It was not immediately clear whether US personnel, who have been patrolling Manbij and the tense frontline between it and adjacent towns where Turkey-backed fighters are based, were still present. The US-led coalition against Isis did not respond to a request for comment.
There was no immediate comment from Turkey or the US, whose troops have been patrolling the town and the tense front line between Manbij and adjacent towns where Turkey-backed fighters were based. “We invite the Syrian government forces … to assert control over the areas our forces have withdrawn from, in particularly Manbij, and to protect these areas against a Turkish invasion,” a statement from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) said.
Turkey, which views the Kurdish militia as a terrorist group, had been threatening a military operation against Manbij. Turkey and its allied fighters have been amassing troops around Manbij in recent days. The Syrian army had already mobilised before the Kurdish invitation, saying on Friday morning that units had entered the town on the eastern bank of the Euphrates.
The threats triggered the US announcement it would withdraw troops from Syria. A timetable for the withdrawal has not yet been made public. The volte-face by the Kurds, six years after they broke from Damascus, comes after President Donald Trump’s surprise decision earlier this month to withdraw the 2,000 US troops stationed in Kurdish-held Syria, known locally as Rojava, which acted as a buffer between Turkey and Syria’s Kurds.
But the surprise US decision rattled allies and the US Syrian Kurdish partners, who scrambled to find new allies to protect their Kurdish-administered areas in north Syria. Although Kurdish forces have proven to be the US’s most important ground partner in the fight against Islamic State, Ankara views them as a terrorist threat and extension of the PKK Kurdish separatist movement within its own borders.
The Syrian government has said it welcomes the Kurdish group returning under its authority. But government officials have stated they will not consider an autonomous area, a main demand for the Kurds. A monitor and several local sources said troops had massed on the edges of the town and that the Syrian government flag had been raised above official buildings for the first time in years.
The Syrian military declaration came shortly after the main Syrian Kurdish militia invited the government to seize control of Manbij to prevent a Turkish attack. The development signals the two sides have agreed to the new arrangement. The Syrian military said it raised the state flag in Manbij. The Syrian army said in a statement it would guarantee “full security for all Syrian citizens and others present in the area”.
The Syrian military said it was responding to calls from residents of Manbij and promised safety for all living there. The development was praised as “positive” by Russia, Assad’s major ally, which seeks to restore his control over the entire country.
Syria’s entry into Manbij comes a day before Moscow is to host top Turkish officials to discuss the crisis in Syria after the United States announced its withdrawal. Manbij, on Syria’s northern border, was seized by the YPG from Isis in 2016 and has since become the frontline between the Kurds and Turkey.
The US agreed to facilitate the removal of YPG fighters from the town as part of efforts to appease Turkey, its Nato ally, but perceived stalling on the matter infuriated Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who in recent months has repeatedly said his forces will deal with threats to Turkey’s safety themselves.
The YPG says its fighters recently withdrew from Manbij to fight the remnants of Isis in the east of the country.
SyriaSyria
TurkeyTurkey
Middle East and North AfricaMiddle East and North Africa
KurdsKurds
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