Arab tribes join Syrian Kurdish-led forces
The Arab tribes in northern Syria who started fighting the Syrian Kurdish forces three weeks ago,announced on Wednesday that they now join the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
TEL ABYAD, Syria (K24) - The Arab tribes in northern Syria who agreed to fight against Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) three weeks ago announced on Wednesday that they have resolved their disputes with YPG and joined the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Speaking to K24 from Tel Abyad, Abu Yousef, a senior commander in Raqqa Revolutionaries' Brigade (RRB—also known as Liwa Thuwwar Rappa), said on Friday, "We have done our best to resolve the dispute between the Army of Tribes and the YPG, and [afterwards] uniting both forces under the umbrella of SDF to fight the terrorists of the Islamic State (IS)."
He continued, "On Monday, we agreed on dissolving the Army of Tribes and joining RRB at the request of the Arab tribes whose men joined [our ranks] last month in Tel Abyad," said Abu Yousef, noting that RRB currently owns all weapons, equipment and machinery of the dissolved army.
Lewand Rojava, a senior SDF officer, told K24 on Friday, "RRB fighters joined SDF… [for example] about 175 fighters joined our forces two weeks ago."
On December 16, 2015, a group of Arab tribes in Syria’s Raqqa Province accused the YPG of forcibly displacing Arab civilians in Tel Abyad under the pretext of fighting IS, and thus agreed in a joint statement to fight the YPG.
RRB was formed in Raqqa Province in September 2012. The group was first allied with Jabhat al-Nusra in Raqqa but by January 2014, broke ties and instead led the fight against IS in the occupied city. After IS expelled RRB and other rebel groups from Raqqa, RRB moved into the countryside of Raqqa Province and allied itself with the Kurdish-led YPG.