U.S. Special Operations forces have begun partnering with Turkish troops and a contingent of Syrian opposition groups for a new operation in northern Syria, defense officials said Friday.
Advertisement
On Monday, the Turkish general staff announced that the Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army freed 845 square kilometers (500 square miles) of Syrian territory from the Daesh militants, as part of the Euphrates Shield operation. It would be the first evidence that U.S. special forces are cooperating directly with Turkish troops in their battle against Islamic State, and it raises serious questions about USA policy in Syria.
Turkey’s “safety zone” in the region could eventually span an area of 5,000 square km (1,930 square miles), Erdogan told a news conference before departing for NY where he was due to address the United Nations’ General Assembly.
Indeed, secondary reports indicated that Kurdish YPG forces are flying American flags over the town of Tel Abyad in an effort to try to dissuade Turkey from attacking certain targets within it.
Although Kerry professed hope, US officials said Monday conditions were still not right to set up the Joint Implementation Center.
A Syrian activist group says 92 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the U.S. -Russia-brokered cease-fire a week ago. Vice President Joe Biden visited Turkey last month, and a long of American military brass has traveled to Turkey in recent weeks for talks.
The tension underscored the complexity of the battle for northern Syria, which is increasingly fought by vested interests who struggle to find common ground, even in pursuit of a common foe in Isis.
The confrontation, which was largely blacked out by the U.S. media, exposes the real character of the so-called “moderate opposition” backed by Washington and its regional allies-principally Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar-as well as the intractable contradictions created by the criminal and reckless policy pursued by Washington over the past five years in its systematic destruction of Syria.
Ankara-backed fighters recaptured the town of Jarabulus from IS jihadists on the first day of the operation within hours, without much resistance from the group.
Erdogan said that Syrian opposition forces would now advance to al-Bab to expand Turkey’s safe zone and clear the region on its border of any ISIS threat.
The move follows a period of US tensions with Turkey, including USA criticism of clashes last month between Turkish and Syrian Kurdish forces in northern Syria.
The videotaped incident took place outside the village of al-Rai near the Turkish border. “We are halting all military activities until USA troops leave the region”. Deepening the offensive will likely escalate its conflict with Islamic State militants and Kurdish groups seeking autonomy in northern Syria.
That area is near the flashpoint city of Aleppo.
Advertisement
The protesting fighters were members of the Free Syrian Army, a broad coalition of rebel groups – some of whom have received United States backing.
