SDF says Turkish-backed groups aiming to launch more attacks

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) media center on Sunday said Turkish-backed groups have mobilized their forces and are instructing their military bases to launch attacks in northeastern Syria.

“Two kilometers away from the M4 International Highway, the mercenaries are instructing bases preparing to launch attacks,” the SDF said in a statement.

“The Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries have recently intensified their artillery shelling on the Ain Issa line and the villages of Tal Abyad (Giri Spi) countryside,” it added.

According to the SDF, the center of Ain Issa town and its surroundings have been heavily bombed during the past three days, in which at least two children were reportedly wounded.

After Turkey conducted a cross-border attack into northeastern Syria in October 2019, Russia and the US reached separate ceasefire deals with Ankara, which allowed Turkish troops to control the area between Tal Abyad and Serekaniye (Ras al-Ain).

Although US President Donald Trump initially decided last year to withdraw American forces from northeast Syria following a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he was later convinced to keep troops in the northeast to prevent the oil fields from falling into the hands of Iran or the so-called Islamic State.

As a result, there are still US troops in Hasakah and Deir al-Zor, which contain the majority of Syria’s oil resources even as the US withdrew from bases surrounding Kobani, Manbij, and Raqqa that were later taken over by the Russian military.

Despite the agreements, Turkish-backed groups and the Turkish army continue to target SDF-held areas periodically. In some cases, villagers living in Syrian-Turkish border areas were killed in attacks by the Turkish military and the rebel forces Ankara supports.

Charles Flynn, a Syria-based researcher at the Rojava Information Centre (RIC), told Kurdistan 24 that over the past week, “there have been constant military raids along the Tel Abyad and Serekaniye fronts, as well as exchanges of heavy weapons fire.”

Read More: Turkish-backed groups increase attacks on SDF positions despite ceasefire agreements

“However, recently, the Turkish-backed militias have increased their shelling of the static front. One source estimates that over 1,000 heavy weapon rounds have been used in the last week alone, causing damage to buildings, a local IDP camp, and civilian casualties on the SDF-controlled side,” he added.

The increase in attacks raises fears that Turkish-backed groups might prepare another ground assault against the autonomous regions of North and East Syria, following the 2019 assault green-lit by Trump.

“With recent success in other theaters such as Libya, Armenia, and Northern Iraq, Turkey may be making a move while the American government preps for a presidential transition,” Flynn stated.

“President-elect Joe Biden has publicly stated that Turkish President Erdogan will ‘pay’ for his military incursions against American-supported Coalition allies in the SDF, and these recent moves by Turkish-backed militias may be Erdogan’s attempt to expand his territory while Donald Trump remains in the white house.”

Erdogan has recently made several threats against the Kurdish-led SDF who have been the main partner in Syria of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State. Erdogan, nonetheless, threatened them with another cross-border attack.

Al Monitor recently reported that the Turkish president made clear again at a Nov. 25 meeting that “a terror corridor would by no means be allowed along Turkey’s southern borders,” referring to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which forms the core of the SDF.

Erdogan sees the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long resistance against the Turkish government for broader Kurdish rights. The YPG has denied its links to the PKK.

The Pentagon and the US State Department last month called on Turkey to respect the October 2019 ceasefire.

Read More: US reiterates call on Turkey to honor cease-fire with SDF

“We have been very clear that the United States strongly opposes any new military operation by Turkey into northeast Syria,” State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told Kurdistan 24 on Oct. 31.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany