We want Afrin conflict to end, hopeful of peace: US-led coalition member

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A member of the US-led coalition on Wednesday said officials in Washington want the conflict in Afrin to end and are hopeful they can bring peace to the region.

Speaking to Kurdistan 24, US Army Brigadier General Brian S. Eifler acknowledged that America was “torn up about what’s going on” in Afrin but said the US-led coalition “thinks it should stop.”

“Our highest levels of government are working with Turkey to stop the fighting there, and we’re hopeful that we can bring some peace to the region and be a part of that,” Eifler stated.

Turkish and Syrian rebel forces overtook the Syrian Kurdistan enclave of Afrin on Sunday where they declared full control following a nearly two-month long offensive against the People’s Protection Units (YPG).

Ankara, who launched its military incursion into Afrin on Jan. 20, claimed the operation was meant to secure its borders of YPG forces which it argues are an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), thus “terrorists.”

The US, who has supported and armed the Kurdish forces in the ongoing battle against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria as part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), had not openly voiced its defense of the YPG but called on Turkey to limit its offensive during the eight-week campaign.

“We’re trying to get everybody to live in peace again and return to peace,” Eifler told Kurdistan 24.

Earlier in the week, the US State Department released a statement expressing its “deep concerns” with the recent developments in Afrin.

In her statement, Spokesperson Heather Nauert noted that the conflict in Afrin “has distracted from the Defeat IS campaign and provided opportunity for IS to begin reconstituting in some areas.”

Eifler reiterated this point, while also relating it to the tensions between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

“We do not want the Iraqi security forces facing the Peshmerga,” he said. “We want them working together against the enemies like [IS].”