SDF - Page 2

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis was optimistic on Thursday about finding “common ground” with Turkey in Syria, where Turkish troops and their local allies may be positioning for a strike against territory occupied by American troops.

Contents: US in Syria announces a Border Security Force to prevent repeat of Iraq withdrawal blunder; Turkey, Russia and Syria infuriated by the Border Security Force announcement

Contents: With ISIS collapsing, US forces will remain in Syria to restore ‘normalcy’; US warns Assad regime to stay west of Euphrates river

Contents: BBC reports hoax by US-led coalition about ISIS evacuation from Raqqa Syria; Syria war violence surges as Bashar al-Assad repeats Aleppo genocide in Ghouta; Apparent coup is in progress in Zimbabwe against 93-year-old Robert Mugabe

The State Department refused Thursday to categorical say that it will oppose associates of President Bashir Assad’s government serving in the new administration of the recently liberated ISIS “capital” of Raqqa, Syria.

Contents: Mattis and Tillerson work to prevent Iraq vs Kurd military confrontation in Kirkuk; ISIS fighters permitted to leave Raqqa, Syria, with human shields; Syria demands ‘immediately’ pullout of Turkey’s forces from Idlib province

Contents: Turkey announces major military operation in Syria’s Idlib province; Turkey’s success in Idlib is far from certain

Contents: Turkey threatens the Kurds in Afrin, Syria, with Operation Euphrates Sword; Turkey’s assault on Afrin may jeopardize the battle in Raqqa

The U.S. Central Command reported on Wednesday that units of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have penetrated the Rafiqah Wall in Raqqa, a landmark barrier surrounding the Islamic State’s most heavily defended positions in the city that once served as the capital of their terror state.

Contents: In dramatic development, US warplanes smash fortified wall in Raqqa, Syria; Turkey fears double-cross from US on arms for Syrian Kurds; Concerns grow about Syrian conflict after defeat of ISIS

Contents: Iran scores strategic victory in Syria with land route from Tehran to Mediterranean; Russia warns US that its jets in eastern Syria will be treated as targets

On Monday morning, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that planes from the U.S.-led coalition in Syria will be treated as hostile targets west of the Euphrates River. The announcement was made in response to the U.S. downing of a Syrian warplane on Sunday.

Contents: US coalition warplane shoots down Syrian regime warplane targeting SDF; Iran launches missiles at ISIS targets in Deir az-Zour in major escalation

A statement released by the Shiite terrorist organization Hezbollah warns the United States to cease striking forces loyal to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad when they violate deconfliction zones, warning their “self-restraint” will not last if America “crosses the red lines.”

The Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), a coalition of anti-Islamic State militias largely comprised of Kurdish fighters, has confirmed that the battle to liberate Raqqa, the capital of the ISIS “caliphate,” has begun.

Contents: Turkey builds a northern Syria ‘National Army’ from Free Syrian Army militias; US begins arming YPG Kurds in northern Syria on eve of battle of Raqqa

Contents: Syria’s Bashar al-Assad accused of burning thousands of political opponents in crematorium; Final push to expel ISIS from Raqqa, Syria, to begin in June

Contents: US will ‘quickly’ arm Kurdish militias in Syria, despite Turkey’s opposition; Turkish officials furious at plans to arm the Kurds

The government of Turkey has responded with ire to the news that the Trump administration would supply heavy arms to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ), calling the move “unacceptable” and demanding the White House “put a stop to this wrong.”

Contents: Kurdish forces in Syria take Tabqa city en route to Raqqa; US military moves to protect Syrian Kurds from Turkey’s military

According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Islamic State militants carried out a surprise attack on the Syrian village of Rajm Sleibi in the early hours of Tuesday morning, killing at least 22 people.

The UK Daily Mail reports that an April 11 airstrike in Syria by U.S. coalition planes accidentally hit a Syrian Democratic Forces unit, killing 18 “friendly fighters.”

U.S. forces have joined an offensive behind Islamic State lines in Syria, aiming to recapture a strategically vital dam near the ISIS capital of Raqqa.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) group, led by the Kurdish YPG but boasting a variety of Arab and Christian militias, is signaling that it can capture the city of Raqqa from the Islamic State with support from the United States and pointedly without help from Turkey.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) General Joseph Votel made an unannounced visit to Syria last week to meet with the heads of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militia fighting the Islamic State largely composed of Kurdish fighters.

Contents: US-backed Kurdish militias in Syria make surprise announcement of Raqqa operation; Is Syria’s Bashar al-Assad a ‘necessary evil’?

Rebel factions, backed by the former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, have reportedly launched a major offensive to break the siege east of Syria’s Aleppo city by forces loyal to the Russian- and Iranian-backed Syrian Dictator Bashar al-Assad.

America’s NATO ally Turkey launched airstrikes against Kurdish fighters allied with a U.S.-backed militia in Syria, a testament to the growing rift between Ankara and Washington over the war against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in the Middle East.

Rebel fighters affiliated with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have reportedly discovered a “hidden” detention center in northern Syria where Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists used the “worst, most violent torture tools” on female prisoners.

Fighting has erupted in northern Syria between two US allies on opposing sides of a Turkish military offensive — the now Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Arab alliance, has recaptured the city of Manbij, located in northern Syria, from Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists.

Contents: Wild celebrations in Manbij Syria, after major defeat for ISIS; Manbij was known as ‘Little London’ because of British jihadists

Kurdish and Arab forces – including U.S.-backed Iraqi troops, Shiite militias linked to Iran, Peshmerga troops, and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – have launched offensives targeting three major Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) strongholds in Iraq and Syria.

Reports have emerged from Syria that the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) has abducted at least 400 civilians from Deir ez-Zor, Syria, after a mass beheading that took more than 100 lives.

Kurdish forces are planning to use a key Syrian military base in northeast Syria to launch an attack on the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS).