US-backed forces deny coordinating with Syrian regime on Idlib offensive

HASSAKEH (Kurdistan 24) – The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday denied reports they are cooperating with the Syrian army in operations against the Turkish-backed Syrian-opposition-held northwestern province of Idlib.

SDF Spokesperson Kino Gabriel in an online statement asserted their forces were not participating in the Syrian regime’s military operation on the province of Idlib.

“Some biased media outlets have circulated rumors in this regard,” he said.

“The SDF is committed to their plans to complete the military operations to liberate the northern countryside of Deir al-Zor, and to concentrate on defeating the terrorist organization of Daesh in its last remaining enclave east of the Euphrates River,” he further commented.

However, a top Kurdish official in northern Syria, Aldar Khalil, said they were amenable to taking part in a Syrian-government-led operation in Idlib if doing so would bring them closer to retaking Afrin, the Kurdish canton which was seized by the Turkish military and its allied Syrian opposition militant groups earlier this year.

Salih Muslim, the former co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the ruling party in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), told Kurdistan 24 in a previous interview that the Kurds might fight in Idlib as well.

“Fighting in Idlib or Afrin is our duty and responsibility, and when we fight in Idlib, it will be our decision as we are not tools in the hands of others,” he said.

The Syrian army has already stated they would launch an operation in Idlib in September, yet dozens of strikes from helicopters and warplanes hit parts of the provinces of Hama, Idlib, and Aleppo a few days ago, killing at least 29 people.

The three areas in northwestern Syria are the last major strongholds of fighters seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces recaptured the outskirts of Damascus and the southwest of the country earlier this year.

Editing by Nadia Riva