McGurk visits Raqqa, SDF amid growing tensions between US and Turkey

RAQQA, Syria (Kurdistan24) – The US Presidential Envoy to the International Coalition against the Islamic State (IS), Brett McGurk, visited northern Syria on Wednesday and met with the Civil Council of Raqqa.

A Kurdistan24 correspondent reported that McGurk met with members of the Council planning to manage Raqqa after its liberation from IS.

The meeting was held in the Council’s headquarter in the town of Ain Issa, north of Raqqa, and was reportedly a two-hour-long closed session.

Syria-based Kurdish Hawar News Agency (ANHA) published footage showing McGurk walking around with members of the Raqqa Council.

McGurk’s meeting with members of Raqqa's Civil Council may have focused not only on the current fight against IS in Raqqa but also on other events occurring in the country’s north and northwest.

McGurk’s visit to the Raqqa province comes in conjunction with the Turkish shelling of the Syrian Kurdish district of Afrin in the northwest of the country.

The bombing of Afrin came after Turkey sent additional troops and armored vehicles to its border with Syria, of which much of the north is under Kurdish control.

Last week, US forces appeared to have toured the Syrian Kurdish-held town of Tal Abyad on the border with Turkey.

The Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey views as a threat, is a US ally in the war against IS in Syria.

McGurk’s has already visited Syria’s Kurdish areas (Rojava) in the couple past years. The first time was in January 2016, followed by many other visits to the region.

Editing by G.H. Renaud