Germany could send up to 2,500 troops to Syria safe zone: reports

According to German media, Berlin is ready to send up to 2,500 troops, including scouts, special operations forces, and armored vehicles.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Germany could send up to 2,500 troops to northern Syria to monitor a proposed international safe zone, German media reported on Friday.

Earlier in the week, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer suggested the creation of an “internationally-controlled security zone” in northern Syria following a halt in Turkey’s military operation against Syrian Kurdish forces.

Kramp-Karrenbauer said the move would “stabilize the region” and help civilians return to their homes voluntarily.

According to German weekly Der Spiegel, Berlin is ready to send up to 2,500 troops, including scouts, special operations forces, and armored vehicles.

The German defense ministry has not confirmed the reports.

At a two-day NATO meeting, which concluded on Friday, Kramp-Karrenbauer presented her proposal for the internationally run safe zone, which she said should be “ideally” mandated by the United Nations.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he welcomed the German proposal for further international involvement in the Turkish-Russian safe zone.

Related Article: NATO welcomes German proposal for international safe zone in Syria

Turkey’s military operation in northern Syria against Syrian Kurdish forces, which it dubbed “Operation Peace Spring,” began on Oct. 9.

The offensive has left at least 235 people dead and displaced over 300,000 others, according to Syrian Kurdish officials.

On the last day of a 120-hour US-brokered ceasefire on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi to conclude an agreement on the future of northern Syria.

The deal meets Ankara’s demand for a 30-kilometer buffer zone along almost the entirety of its border with Syria, which includes the withdrawal of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) military leadership, 30 kilometers south of the Turkish border.