US forces with Kurds fired at from Turkey

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – US soldiers embedded with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the Syrian town of Tel Abyad came under fire from Turkey, said an unnamed Pentagon official according to Turkish news outlet Hurriyet.

On Sep. 15, Kurdistan 24 reported military units belonging to the US Marines established several control points in the Kurdish-controlled town of Tel Abyad (Gire Spi in Kurdish) on the border with Turkey.

The American forces also raised several US flags nearby after gaining control of the areas.

According to Hurriyet, whose Washington correspondent talked to sources within the US Department of Defense (DoD), an official said after the American Special Operations Forces hoisted the US flags, they came under fire.

The correspondent added there were no casualties, and the soldiers had since relocated elsewhere.

The hoisting of the flags led to discontent in the pro-government Turkish media.

Kurdish forces were accused of using the US flags as a shield against a possible second Turkish incursion into Syria to disrupt Kurdish plans for autonomy.

Pentagon spokesperson Peter Cook told reporters earlier he was not aware of the incident.

Cook stated the US was calling on its partner forces not to fly the American flag on their own, according to a press briefing transcript on the DoD website.

Tensions between Kurdish forces and the Turkish army have been on the rise since the latter’s late August incursion with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Islamist militias into the formerly Islamic State-held town of Jarabulus.

The campaign in northern Syria was meant to obstruct Kurds from uniting their two cantons of Kobani and Afrin.

The Turkish daily wrote that another unnamed Pentagon official confirmed the firing on the SOF and identified the source as the Turkish side of the border.

However, the official did not comment whether the Americans had relayed the issue to the Turks.

Additionally, CNN’s Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr reported the firing on American soldiers on Twitter.

“Initial reports indicate US Special Ops forces in Tel Abyad, Syria put up US flag to show identity as they came under fire, US officials,” she wrote.

About 300 US Special Forces have been embedded with the Kurdish YPG since October last year in a training and advisory role as the ties between the two sides deepened in the fight against the Islamic State (IS).

Meanwhile, the US State Department spokesperson John Kirby commented on the expulsion by protest of a unit of American soldiers from the FSA-held town of al-Rai in northern Syria.

According to a Friday press briefing received via email by Kurdistan 24, Kirby described the removal of US troops as “concerning” and “discomforting if true.” 

The spokesperson refused to comment on the incident recorded on video by rebels where Turkey-supported Islamists within the FSA ranks threatened to slaughter the US soldiers.

Kirby said he had not seen the videos on social media and referred reporters to the DoD.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany

(Reporting by Ari Khalidi)