The Syrian army backed by Russian air strikes has advanced towards Islamic State-held Raqqa province in a new offensive, a group monitoring the war said, nearing a region where US -backed militias have also attacked the jihadist group.
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A small number of American special forces troops are supporting the offensive on the ground, acting as advisors rather than engaging in direct combat, officials told Reuters.
Turkey does not want to see the YPG, which already controls much of the Turkish-Syrian border, take over the last bit of the frontier that it did not already hold.
He declined to talk about any possible deal with Turkey but said the USA has been in constant coordination with Ankara on the Manbij offensive.
The U.S. officials told Reuters the YPG would only fight to help clear Islamic State from the area around Manbij.
An alliance of USA -backed Syrian militias pressing an offensive against Islamic State in northern Syria is predominantly composed of Syrian Arabs with Kurdish forces lending logistical support, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.
“As far as I know, the Syrian Democratic Forces comprise some 450 Kurdish self-defense militiamen and 2,500 Arabs…”
Taking Minbij, in Aleppo province, is viewed as a key stepping stone to taking back the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State group.
The YPG has been a key ally for the USA military on the ground in Syria in the fight against ISIS. But the administration says the YPG is excluded from the new SDF offensive.
The operation is taking place ahead of an eventual push by the USA -backed Syrian forces toward Raqqa, Islamic State’s de facto Syrian capital, which, alongside Iraq’s northern city of Mosul is one of two main objectives to bring down the caliphate.
“No one can pass to the west of the Euphrates, we are very determined about this”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a year ago. Faced with this exposure, USA officials now claim the YPG will leave the area as soon as it is liberated.
“They’ll be as close as they need to be for the [Syrian fighters] to complete the operation”.
“We know that there is external plotting, from Manbij city … against the homelands of Europe, Turkey – all good friends and allies of ours – and the United States as well”, Carter said.
The operation precedes an eventual push by USA -backed Syrian forces toward the city of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s de facto capital in Syria and the prime objective in Syria for US military planners. The YPG has been the most effective USA ally in Syria in pushing back Islamic State and seizing land from extremists.
Ankara is wary of the Kurdish forces due to their links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting against the state for more than 30 years for greater rights for the Kurdish minority. United States military advisers coordinate special forces movements away from the front line, and this crucial operation planned to be completed in several weeks.
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One U.S. service member was injured north of Raqqa over the weekend, the Pentagon said.
