US-backed Syrian force warns Turkey against attack

Erdogan has pledged to launch military incursion against the Syrian-Kurdish group

Turkey-backed Syrian fighters arrive to take part in a military exercise on the outskirts of Manbij, Syria on Thursday. AFP

A US-backed militia group in Syria has issued a warning that a new Turkish military intervention in the country could derail the fight against ISIS and cause a fresh humanitarian crisis.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week said an operation against the Syrian Democratic Forces, a majority force which helped to topple ISIS in Syria with western air support, was imminent.

Previous operations against the Syrian-Kurdish group — there have been four since 2016 — have forced small units of US advisers to pull back from Kurdish positions as Turkish air and artillery strikes rained down on the militias.

The warning from the SDF comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said a new incursion by Turkish forces could unravel fragile gains in the area.

SDF commander Mazloum Abdi called on all sides to "prevent any new tragedies and support de-escalation", warning that an assault would fuel yet more displacement in Syria's 11-year conflict.

Turkey has vowed to launch a new offensive against the Kurdish YPG militia, the spearhead of the SDF, which controls swathes of territory at the border with Syria.

While Turkey views the Kurdish-led forces as terrorists and a national security threat, the US regards the SDF as an ally that has helped drive ISIS from vast areas of Syria.

Washington, whose support for the SDF has long been a point of tension in ties with its Nato ally Turkey, has expressed concern, saying any new offensive would put at risk US troops — which have a presence in Syria — and undermine regional stability.

On a visit to the Turkish town of Hatay near the Syrian border on Thursday, the American ambassador to the United Nations reiterated US opposition to any military action.

"We have engaged with the Turkish government," Linda Thomas Greenfield said. "We have indicated our opposition to any decision to take military action on the Syrian side of the border. We think that nothing should be done to break the ceasefire lines that have already been established."

Any such action, she said, would not only increase suffering but also the number of displaced people, including some who might try to cross the border into Turkey.

Erdogan threat

President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said Turkey would rid northern Syria's Tal Rifaat and Manbij areas of terrorists, confirming the targets of the new advance for the first time. He said the assault would continue into other regions.

There has been a surge in violence near the border in recent days but sources on both sides say they have not seen serious military movements.

The SDF-aligned Manbij Military Council said one of its fighters was killed on Thursday while repelling an attempted infiltration by Turkey-backed fighters.

Two of the attacking forces were killed, Sharfan Darwish, its representative, told Reuters in a voice recording.

There was no immediate comment from Turkey-backed groups in the area and Reuters could not independently confirm the incident.

A Turkey-backed Syrian rebel force, the National Army, said the SDF had stepped up shelling of its areas.

Maj Youssef Hammoud, its representative, told Reuters: "We are responding from our positions and Turkish bases in the area are shelling YPG positions."

On Wednesday, three civilians and a fighter were killed in a rocket attack on Tel Abyad, a border town seized by Turkish forces and their Syrian allies in an incursion in 2019, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that reports on the war.

The rebel National Army said the SDF was responsible for the Tel Abyad shelling.

The Observatory said the rockets were fired from areas where both SDF and Syrian government forces operate. An SDF representative could not immediately be reached for comment.

Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency since 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.