Turkey, allies attack Kurdish-held Manbij in Syria
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - The Turkish military and Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions it supports began an offensive on Wednesday against the United States-backed Kurdish-led forces in several villages west of the town of Manbij in northern Syria.
A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander in Manbij Shervan Derwish announced the attacks on his Facebook page, a day after a long-repeated avowal by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to capture the town.
Derwish said concurrent "heavy" attacks from the side of the Turkish-held town of al-Bab and the Islamic State (IS) group from the south targeted SDF positions in Manbij area.
Eight villages some 27 km (17 miles) west of Manbij were under assault as "fierce" clashes erupted between the Manbij Military Council (MMC), a local SDF division, and Turkish-launched Operation Euphrates Shield forces, according to Reuters.
At the time of publishing this report, there was no confirmation or comment by Turkish authorities.
An undated video released by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) after Derwish's statement showed fighters using truck-mounted machine guns to fire at purported FSA and Turkish targets and taking defensive measures near a demarcation line.
The expected fighting in Manbij followed a perceived US Army endorsement of the Kurdish-dominated forces to be the leading power to liberate the eastern Syrian city of Raqqa that has served as the de facto capital of the IS.
On Tuesday, the US Central Command tweeted photographs of female SDF fighters getting trained, receiving arms and practicing weapons at an undisclosed military base.
CENTCOM's publication "by popular demand" of Kurdish fighters Turkey considers to be "terrorists" caused an uproar in pro-government Turkish media which interpreted it as a message to their country as the US Department of Defense submitted a classified anti-IS plan to the White House.
Erdogan declared Manbij to be "an Arab city" that should be cleared from the YPG and its allies.
Since the end of former President Barack Obama's tenure, Turkey's leadership has been courting the administration of Donald Trump to sideline Kurdish forces in the ongoing Raqqa operation.
Any assault on SDF west of the River Euphrates, a crossed Turkish red line, could impede and possibly halt the Raqqa operation as MMC commanders allegedly sought assurances from the CENTCOM General Joseph Votel who made a secret visit to Kobani last week.
Editing by Ava Homa