US forces establish 5 observation posts in SDF areas: YPG

US forces have established five observation posts near the Turkish border in the Syria’s northeast in a bid to “combat ISIS” militants in the area, an unnamed People’s Protection Units (YPG) official told a Saudi press agency. 

“The US Army started yesterday establishing three posts in Tal Abyad and two others in Ain al-Arab (Kobani) at the border with Turkey to protect the back of its Syrian ally forces against ISIS,” the Kurdish YPG official told the Saudi-based Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday.

He also told the news agency there is a memorandum of understanding between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – a joint Kurdish-Arab force dominated by the YPG – and the US-led Coalition against ISIS, including a one-year plan to fight ISIS and its cells in the region.

The memorandum, which the official says could be extended at the end of 2019, also includes the training of 30,000 SDF fighters.

The YPG’s official media Twitter account shared Asharq Al-Awsat’s story, indicating the comments are authentic. 

Turkey has repeatedly expressed its concerns over US support for the YPG, which Ankara considers an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK, which fights for greater Kurdish political and cultural rights, is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU.

Turkish defense minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday he told US officials on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada last weekend that the establishment of observation posts on the Syrian-Turkish border “will have a negative impact.”

Akar claimed that the US is protecting YPG. 

US and Turkish forces have begun join patrols in the Manbij area, where around 2,000 American troops are stationed supporting SDF operations against ISIS remnants. 

The SDF is currently leading ground operations in Deir ez-Zor to dislodge ISIS from its final holdout in Hajin and desert areas near the Iraqi border. US-led Coalition warplanes are supporting the operation from the air.

According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, several civilians have been killed in Coalition air attacks. Coalition spokesman Col Sean Ryan has been unable to confirm or deny the reports. 

ISIS counterattacks, taking advantage of recent poor weather conditions, have killed dozens of SDF fighters in recent weeks. 

Turkish shelling on YPG positions on the Syria-Turkey border led to a halt in anti-ISIS operations earlier this month. US officials urged Turkey to stop targeting the SDF in order for operations to resume. 

YPG claims 42 Turkish soldiers and rebels killed in October attacks

The Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) released a new statement this week that detailed their operations in northern Syria last month.

According to the YPG, their forces killed at least 42 Turkish soldiers and rebels during their operations in October.

Of the 42 killed, at least three were Turkish soldiers and the remaining were rebels loyal to Ankara.

Furthermore, the YPG said they destroyed eight military vehicles that belonged to the Turkish-backed rebels.

All of the YPG’s operations were conducted inside the Afrin region of northwest Aleppo; this area was captured by the Turkish-backed rebels in early March of this year.

ISIS defeat in east Syria taking 'longer than expected:' US-backed force

The fight to wrest a desert area in eastern Syria from ISIS will take "much longer than expected," US-backed forces battling the jihadists told AFP on Tuesday.

The reassessment came as the United Nations warned that the fight for Hajin in Syria's eastern province of Deir ez-Zor was having a "devastating" effect on thousands of civilians.

The Syrian Democratic Forces has been locked in clashes for just over a month with ISIS holdouts in Hajin and surrounding villages, but they have been slowed down by harsh weather conditions and a ferocious jihadist fightback.

"The military operations in Hajin will take much longer than expected," said Redur Khalil, a top SDF commander.

"Daesh is benefiting a lot from weather factors, including sandstorms. They've helped it take cover from reconnaissance aircraft and other monitoring mechanisms," he told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

Khalil said the landscape around Hajin was vast and arid, "larger than just a pocket."

The SDF estimates some 3,000 jihadists are defending the area.

They have laid a massive network of trenches, barriers, and explosives that were "hindering" the SDF's advance, Khalil said.

"Most of the fighters in the Hajin region are foreigners with fighting experience," he added.

Hajin, which lies in a small stretch east of the winding Euphrates River, is one of ISIS's final holdouts in Syria.

The jihadist group lost its de facto Syrian capital Raqqa one year ago this week to the SDF, which has chased it out of swathes of the country's north and east.

source: 

AFP