The US-led worldwide coalition fighting the Islamic State group said Wednesday it had conducted 18 air strikes near the strategic town of Manbij in northern Syria, opening a new front against the jihadists.
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The Syrian Democratic Forces, who control a swathe of territory along the Turkish border, launched a push south towards the IS stronghold of Raqa last week, capturing a string of villages in the north of Raqa province.
Dozens of civilians were also wounded in the raids on Idlib, a provincial capital held by Al-Nusra Front and its allies since March 2015, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Turkey considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and views it as a terrorist organization.
Washington makes a distinction between the PKK and YPG, and USA officials have stressed that they do not want to have to choose between Turkey and the Kurds.
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. would continue to work with Turkey to fight ISIL but would also continue supporting the SDF. Capturing Manbij would sever the vital supply route, cut off militant fighters and further squeeze the Islamic State in Raqqa, Garver said.
The U.S. officials told Reuters the YPG would only fight to help clear Islamic State from the area around Manbij.
Last week, photos published by AFP of USA special operations forces in Syria wearing patches of the YPG surfaced on the Internet, drawing outrage from Turkish officials.
The assault is being carried out by an alliance known as the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), which is composed of a powerful Kurdish militia called the YPG, and Arab combatants that have allied themselves with it.
Turkish Foreign Ministry officials declined to comment on the offensive.
De Mistura’s spokeswoman said the U.N. World Food Programme had been working on an operational plan for air drops and more information would be available after the weekly meeting of the ISSG humanitarian taskforce in Geneva on Thursday.
U.S. President Barack Obama has authorized about 300 U.S. special operations forces to operate on the ground from secret locations inside Syria to help coordinate with local forces to battle Islamic State there.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said both United Nations and Syrian Arab Red Crescent staff were involved in Wednesday’s delivery.
U.S. officials caution that territorial gains would not spell the end of Islamic State, which has “metastasised” and established itself outside of its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria, spreading to Libya, Afghanistan and beyond.
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The SDF last week began attacks against Islamic State in areas north of Raqqa, but says the city was not a target of that operation.
