Gen. Mazloum Abdi – top military commander for the Kurdish-led, U.S.-allied Syrian Defense Forces (SDF) – said on Wednesday his alliance must suspend operations against the resurgent Islamic State in order to prepare for a potentially massive Turkish invasion that could put hundreds of American troops in Syria at risk.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Monday that clashes with Turkish-backed Syrian militia groups continue despite the SDF withdrawing from the border region as demanded in the security agreement between Turkey and Syria’s patrons in Russia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again attempted to convince American counterpart President Donald Trump to allow Turkey to control Manbij, a region in northern Syria under the auspices of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ), in a phone call Sunday.
A senior Republican senator on Saturday urged U President Donald Trump to slow down the withdrawal of ground troops from Syria until jihadists were defeated to avoid a “nightmare” for allies Israel and Turkey.
The U.S. military on Friday identified three of the four Americans killed in a suicide bombing in Manbij, Syria, earlier this week.
A representative for the Syrian Kurdish militia and political community in northern Syria rejected the idea of a Turkish-run “safe zone” in the region on Tuesday following U.S. troop departures, instead suggesting the United Nations should play a role.
A U.S.-led coalition patrol in Syria’s disputed northern Manbij was attacked by an Islamic State suicide bomber on Wednesday, claiming the life of at least two American soldiers, according to local reports.
Iranian- and Russian-backed forces loyal to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters are building up their military presence near the Syrian town of Manbij this week, a focal point of post-U.S. troops’ pullout plans.
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), recently handed over control of territory near northern Syria’s Manbij region to the Russian and Iranian-allied regime of Bashar al-Assad in exchange for support in repelling an imminent attack by Turkey, the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) reported Tuesday.
The U.S. special envoy for Syria, James Jeffrey, used a speech at the Atlantic Council on Tuesday to describe American support for armed Kurdish groups in Syria as “transactional” and temporary.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday denounced the United States for holding joint military patrols near the Turkish border in northern Syria with fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan reportedly issued a “final warning” on Friday to U.S.-backed fighters to pull out of areas in northern Syria east of the Euphrates river.
An American military patrol in the Syrian region of Manbij took fire from Turkey-allied forces in the area on October 15, Military Times reported this week.
The highest-ranking military officer in the United States military met his Turkish counterpart in Washington, DC, this week to discuss security in Syria’s Manbij area as well as joint efforts to annihilate the resilient Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) presence in the region, the Pentagon announced.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed threats on Friday to expand his country’s military operations into northern Syrian territory controlled by the U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters.
The agreement between Turkey and the United States to push U.S.-allied Kurdish militiamen out of Syria’s Manbij region is delayed, “but not completely dead,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared, the Hurriyet newspaper reported on Thursday.
Turkey intends to completely clear northern Syria of Kurdish militiamen from the U.S.-allied People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ), considered by Ankara to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) terrorist group, Turkish officials indicated this week.
The Turkish military is struggling to keep up operations against the Syrian Defense Forces (SDF) in northern Afrin, a group primarily made up of the U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ). The prolonged operation in Kurdish territory has limited Turkey as it prepares to protect Sunni Arab civilians in Idlib awaiting an imminent operation by dictator Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday.
The Turkish military announced Monday that Turkish soldiers, accompanied by American counterparts, began “independent patrols” in Manbij, Syrian Kurdistan, where Ankara spent months threatening an invasion against local Kurdish forces.
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) confirmed on Tuesday that it reached an agreement with Turkey to pull the American-allied Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), deemed “terrorists’ by Ankara, from the northern Syrian city of Manbij, arguing that the move will “reduce tensions.”
The Trump administration this week refuted news reports claiming the U.S. had reached an agreement with Turkey on a plan for the withdrawal of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from Syria’s Manbij.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdag said on Tuesday that it is “completely inconceivable to return Afrin back to the control of the Syrian regime” after Turkey invaded the northern border region in January.
The Pentagon refused to confirm the accuracy of media reports that the United States military is intensifying its presence in northern Syria’s Manbij region, only indicating that the U.S. is engaged in talks with Turkey to de-escalate the tensions in the area in a statement to Breitbart News Wednesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia may have to pay for continuing America’s military presence in war-ravaged Syria.
The United States is carrying out a routine “review” of its operations in Syria, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) declared on Tuesday in response to the commander-in-chief’s remarks that American troops will soon pull out of the country.
The United States is contemplating boosting its military footprint in northern Syria where America’s NATO partner Turkey is on the brink of seizing more territory from U.S.-allied Kurds.
President Donald Trump may about to throw the Kurds under the bus – and with them, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and American interests in the Middle East.
The United States is reportedly increasing its presence in northern Syria’s Manbij region against the possibility of clashes between American allies Turkey and Kurdish forces.
Turkey insists it has reached an agreement to work with the United States to bring the fight to Manbij, Syria, as part of its post-Afrin efforts to expand its aggressive military operation to other Kurdish-held areas further east and into Iraq if necessary.
Contents: Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board overwhelmed by migrants crossing border from US; Turkey achieves victory in Afrin, Syria, but Kurds threaten guerilla war
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told reporters this weekend that the United States had reached a “common understanding” with Turkey for a plan to expel its allies, the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ), from northern Manbij, Syria.
Contents: US-backed Kurds stop fighting ISIS in order to fight Turkey in Afrin; Reports of Free Syrian Army atrocities on Kurds in Afrin; Mahmoud Abbas may step down as Palestinian Authority president
Contents: Turkey suffers military setback in ‘Operation Olive Branch’ in Afrin Syria; Turkey doubles down on Afrin-Manbij operation, despite US opposition
Contents: Russia’s ‘humanitarian pause’ in Syria turns into farce on first day; Report: North Korea is selling chemical weapons supplies to Syria; Areas of control in Syria and Iraq
Contents: Turkey gets bogged down with military ‘Operation Olive Branch’ in Afrin, Syria; Syria says it will send its ‘popular forces’ to support the YPG against Turkey in Afrin
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson engaged in a “productive, open conversation” with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday night, State Department officials said, engaging for more than three hours on growing disagreements over Erdogan’s decision to invade Syria.
Contents: Israel’s F-16 warplane shot down in aftermath of downing Iranian drone; Turkish helicopter shot down in Afrin, days after Russian warplane downed in Idlib; With defeat of ISIS, war escalates, and Syria becomes more fragmented and chaotic
U.S. Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk assured reporters on a visit to Manbij, Syria, that American forces would not leave the northern city even if Turkish forces attack it. Asked about concerns that Turkey would come into direct conflict with U.S. troops, Funk said, “it’s not in my job description to worry, my job is to fight.”
Contents: Russia’s Syria peace talks in Sochi dissolve into farce as Lavrov gets heckled; Russia sidelines the failed United Nations Syria peace process; War continues in full force, with Syria and Turkey killing ‘terrorists’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that his forces are prepared to push all the way across Syria to the Iraqi border in their campaign against Syrian Kurdish forces, fueling fears that Turkey’s incursion will trigger a new refugee wave, and could end in a confrontation with the U.S. military.
