The US is reportedly building a new military base in the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, right on the Turkish border.
The US has been backing the Kurdish SDF for years, to the chagrin of Turkey and its allies in the self-proclaimed Syrian National Army (SNA). In recent weeks, intense fighting has erupted between the SDF and Turkey and their partners in SNA.
So far, the fighting has centered around the city of Manbij, which is further west than Kobani but also along the Syria-Turkey border.
Fighting has raged around the Arab-majority city of Manbij, controlled by the Manbij Military Council, a group of local fighters operating under the SDF.
According to the Observatory, “clashes continued south and east of Manbij, while Turkish forces bombarded the area with drones and heavy artillery.”
According to the Observatory, “clashes continued south and east of Manbij, while Turkish forces bombarded the area with drones and heavy artillery.”
The final outcome in Syria appears stark: Assad’s regime has fallen, and the Syrian army has been entirely dismantled—an unprecedented event even compared to the 1967 war. Israel now firmly controls the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon. Turkish forces have seized more than 13 cities, cementing their influence. The United States has solidified its presence in oil-rich regions while extending legal protection to the Kurds and the SDF.
(December 18, 2024)
Leading world media outlets have given front-page coverage to a potential attack by Turkey and Turkish-backed jihadist groups on Kobani (Kobanê), a Kurdish city renowned for its symbolic victory against ISIS, as efforts to maintain a ceasefire between Turkey and Kurdish-led forces falter.
(December 18, 2024)
Im Norden Syriens könnte ein Großangriff der türkischen Armee und ihrer aus Islamisten und faschistischen »Grauen Wölfen« gebildeten Söldner der Syrischen Nationalarmee (SNA) auf die an der Grenze gelegene Stadt Kobani unmittelbar bevorstehen. Davor warnten hochrangige US-Beamte laut Wall Street Journal vom Dienstag unter Verweis auf die Truppenkonzentration westlich und östlich der Stadt. Lediglich die Präsenz eines symbolischen Kontingents von US-Soldaten, die am Wochenende nach Abzug russischer Truppen in deren Stellungen eingerückt waren und demonstrativ ihre Fahne auf dem Rathaus von Kobani hissten, scheint den NATO-Partner Türkei vorerst noch vom Einmarsch abzuhalten.
(December 22, 2024)
Assad‘s fall has left the Kurdish factions on the back foot as they seek to retain political gains made in the last 13 years.
In an interview with France 24, Fidan said Ankara‘s preferred option was for the new administration in Damascus to address the problem in line with Syria‘s territorial unity, sovereignty, and integrity, adding that the YPG should be disbanded immediately.
Turkey and their allies, collectively known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), hold territory in Syria’s northeast, but have gained considerable influence having backed the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the takeover of most of the country. HTS officials are already suggesting that stamping out Kurdish separatists is a near-term goal, and that Turkish involvement in Syria’s reconstruction is a priority.
US officials have been trying to reassure the Kurds that they don’t face any immediate threats to existence from Turkey’s allies, despite Turkish officials saying the “elimination” of the SDF’s largest faction, the YPG, is their strategic goal.
(December 19, 2024)
There is no talk of a ceasefire deal between Turkey and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, contrary to a U.S. announcement, a Turkish defence ministry official said on Thursday.
The State Department had said…
“Earlier today, an Israeli fighter jet carried out an airstrike on radars in Deir Ezzor Military Airport,” it said.
“Moreover, an anonymous explosion took place at the only bridge on Euphrates River that connects between the city and Hatla Village, which is one of the seven villages in SDF-held areas.”
Turkey-backed rebel forces are continuing their advance to „clear terrorism“ in northern Syria, a Turkish defense ministry source said on Thursday, referring to the forces‘ battle against Kurdish forces in the region.
Turkey has been telling the United States repeatedly that „a terrorist organization cannot be eliminated by using another terrorist organization,“ the source also said.
The Kurdish-led administration says it is willing to „unite“ with the new administration in Damascus, as it raises the flag of the opposition in the territories it controls in northeastern Syria.
Northeastern Syria, which is controlled by the People‘s Protection Units (YPG) and their US-backed affiliate the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has been under attack by Turkish forces since the ousting of Bashar al-Assad on Sunday.
Insurgents who overthrew the Syrian government said Tuesday that they have wrested control of the eastern city of Deir Ezzor after intense battles with a Kurdish-led, US-backed force.
Hassan Abdul-Ghani, a senior commander of the jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which leads the insurgent alliance, said that the rebel forces completely took control of the city.
(September 23, 2022)
On 22 October 2017, SDF announced that its forces, with the support of the International Coalition Forces (ICF), had taken control of the al-Omar oil field, Syria’s largest, after the regime’s alliance had engaged in military operations against it for days.
As SDF installed its spheres of influence in the region as far as the Euphrates River from the eastern side, the al-Omar field is now known as the largest US military base in Syria.
The field in Deir Ezzor’s eastern countryside is the largest oil field in Syria, with a pre-Syrian revolution production of about 30,000 barrels per day.
(December 9, 2024)
The Kurdish fighters „have withdrawn from the city and still need to withdraw from the other areas“ east of Manbij, said the Syrian opposition source familiar with the matter.
Syria
Today, Dec. 10, Gen. Kurilla visited U.S. military commanders and servicemembers, as well as our Defeat-ISIS partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces, at several bases in Syria. He received a firsthand assessment of force protection measures, the rapidly evolving situation, and ongoing efforts to prevent ISIS from exploiting the current situation. USCENTCOM remains committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS.
Iraq
After visiting Syria, Gen. Kurilla visited Baghdad where he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia‘ al Sudani, Chief of Staff Gen. Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah, and Iraqi Joint Operations Deputy Commander Gen. Qais al-Muhammadawai. The leaders discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation and regional security, the rapidly changing situation in Syria, as well as the defeat-ISIS operations in Iraq.
PYD Presidency Council Member Salih Muslim stated that Kurds are a part of Syria and want a solution: “They are not hostile to anyone. What Turkey should do is to act rationally.”
Violent clashes are taking place on the Manbij-Aleppo and Manbij-Bab lines, which are being bombed with heavy weapons.
While the infiltration attempts of the SNA groups on the northern, western and southern fronts of the city are being repelled one by one, the Manbij Democratic Autonomous Canton Administration has responded to the propaganda lies spread in recent days.
Manbij Military Council refuted reports that Turkish-backed mercenaries have taken control of many locations in the city, stressing that their forces were protecting the area and the people.
The statement said that Turkish warplanes were bombing the city and its service and administrative institutions following the failure of the invasion troops.
Turkey-backed Syrian forces entered the northern Syrian city of Manbij after taking control of most of the surrounding area from US-allied Kurdish forces there, a Turkish security source said on Sunday.
Turkey-backed Syrian forces have taken control of some 80% of northern Syria’s Manbij area and are close to victory against Kurdish forces there, a Turkish security source claims.
“The fight against the YPG/PKK is very close to victory. Both air and land interventions are ongoing to take Manbij from the hands of the YPG/PKK,” the source says, referring to the Kurdish militia which has long been in control of Manbij.
An official of the Autonomous Administration has informed the Agence-France Presse (AFP) that following the Turkish-backed armed groups’ takeover of Tall Rifat and the villages of the Shahba area, the Kurdish residents of those areas were forced to flee from their homes.
As the official disclosed, a group of displaced Kurds have arrived at the areas controlled by SDF.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) also declared that they will “attempt to move the displaced Kurds from Aleppo and its surroundings to areas under SDF’s control.”
(December 2, 2024)
Communications have been cut in Kurdish-majority areas, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, raising fears of possible “massacres” of Kurds.
(…)
“Following the collapse and withdrawal of the Syrian army and its allies, we intervened to establish a humanitarian corridor between our eastern regions, Aleppo, and the Tal Rifaat area, with the aim of protecting our people from potential massacres.
“However, the attacks of the armed groups backed by the Turkish occupation have disrupted this corridor.”
Abdi said despite the offensive, “our forces continue to resist to protect our people residing in the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo.”
Zum anderen dürfte das, was wir in Syrien sehen, der Hinweis auf eine etwas größer angelegte türkische Strategie sein. Ich vermute, dass die Türkei längerfristig große Teile von Nord- und Ostsyrien einer zumindest indirekten Kontrolle unterwerfen und damit vor allem das kurdische Autonomiegebiet im Nordosten Syriens in Schach halten oder sogar beseitigen will. Dort herrscht nämlich ein Ableger der türkischen PKK.
Kurdish forces have also made deployments, moving into Aleppo International Airport and other areas of the city, according to the Britain-based conflict monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
On Saturday and according to reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has entered into and gained control over the Aleppo International Airport.
According to the SOHR, the SDF has also taken control of two towns Nubl and Zahra near Aleppo as well.
(November 27, 2024)
Shamî stated that the attack in Aleppo was planned and coordinated by the Turkish state. He said that, by using groups like HTS, the Turkish state is trying to prevent peace in Syria and “realise its long-term occupation plans”. According to Shamî, the attacks are being carried out step by step and in an organised manner.
Farhad Shamî said that the SDF’s primary goal is to protect the people and the region, adding, “No matter who plans what, our only duty is to ensure the defense of our people.”
(November 30, 2024)
The Kurdish-majority neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsood in Syria’s Aleppo is bracing for a possible attack by rebels who have gained significant territory in a surprise offensive against the Syrian army.
The People’s Protection Units (YPG), which controls the neighborhood, published a video early Saturday morning that it said shows “civilians… preparing to defend their neighborhood in the event of an attack.”
Troops will be part of Operation Inherent Resolve, a U.S. military campaign against Daesh from Iraq and Libya to Syria. Last year alone, the U.S. sent more than 3,000 soldiers to Syria and Iraq for the campaign. The website Axios reported that U.S. military presence in the region reached about 45,400 as of October 2023 and most are stationed in Kuwait.
Turkey called on the US to stop working with Kurdish YPG militants in Syria, vowing to maintain its cross-border offensives against America’s Kurdish allies in Syria after the US shot down a Turkish drone in the region.
Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul, said the UAV did not belong to the Turkish military, according to a statement.
“It is not only the Turkish military that conducts counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq and Syria,” she said.
She said that the Turkish intelligence and interior ministry’s gendarmerie also joined operations.
(December 16, 2022)
The two allied forces resumed operations on Dec. 8, and since then, they „have conducted six partnered operations, resulting in the detention of five ISIS operatives involved in planning attacks on detention facilities holding ISIS fighters and on the Al Hol camp,“ Col. Joe Buccino, a spokesman for CENTCOM, said in a statement referring to the Syrian refugee camp.
(…)
The Syrian Democratic Forces thwarted a suicide bombing attempt at the camp in late September, though four ISIS fighters were killed in the incident. Weeks earlier, the SDF arrested “dozens of ISIS operatives” while conducting security operations at the refugee camp, and a CENTCOM spokesperson said at the time that the arrests led to the “dissolution of a major ISIS facilitation network both within the camp and throughout Syria.”
Siamand Ali, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, confirmed to The Associated Press that Lt. Gen. Alexander Chaiko met Sunday with Kurdish commander Mazloum Abdi in northeast Syria, adding that he has no details about what they discussed.
Mr Aslin, 28, is known by multiple names. When he fought alongside Syria’s Kurdish militia the People’s Protection Units (YPG) against Isis he was known as Rojhat, he then adopted the name Cossack Gundi when he joined as a volunteer fighter in the ranks of the Ukrainian Army. To some, he is known simply as Johnny.
Mr Aslin, a care worker at his hometown of Newark, Nottinghamshire, had no military experience when he left the UK for Syria in 2015. Before he boarded a plane to Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, he reportedly told border authorities he was going on a backpacking trip.
Kristian Brakel von der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Istanbul meint, dass andere Interessen nicht dahinterstecken müssten, aber könnten: etwa die innerkurdischen Friedensverhandlungen, die in Syrien gerade stattgefunden haben. „Zwischen dem PKK-Ableger PYD beziehungsweise YPG und dem eher Barzani-nahestehenden kurdischen Lager aus dem Nordirak, die erst Verhandlungserfolge verkündet haben. Da ist etwas, dass der Türkei sicherlich nicht Recht ist“.
BOWMAN: Right. The U.S. and Europe actually want Bashar al-Assad removed. He killed hundreds of thousands of his own people in a civil war. And they don‘t want Assad to gain more strength by having access to millions of dollars from the oil. And Russia is Syria‘s main ally. The U.S. ally in this ongoing ISIS fight, the Kurds, are using proceeds from the oil to continue their operations. And to make this even more politically convoluted, the Kurds are selling the oil to the Syrian government.
Schwere Vorwürfe gegen Verbündete der Türkei: Islamistische Milizen sollen eine wichtige Anlage für die Wasserversorgung in Ras al-Ain (kurdisch: Sere Kaniye) außer Betrieb gesetzt haben. Betroffen seien 460.000 Menschen, einschließlich der Bewohner von Flüchtlingslagern sowie die Lager von IS-Gefangenen, darunter das bekannteste: al-Hol mit knapp 70.000 Personen, berichtet al-Monitor.
(08.07.2019)
Wie gefährlich und für die Allermeisten unübersichtlich die Situation in diesem von allen Großmächten mit Ansage gezüchteten Hexenkessel in Syrien ist, mag man daran erkennen, dass die Staatsführungen von Russland, Iran und Syrien im August 2016 dem von der Türkei aus erfolgten Einmarsch der Internationalen Kriegskoalition in Syrien tatenlos zusahen und hofften, dass das nicht weiter auffiel.
Alle Kriegsparteien lügen um die Wette.
Ob nun die U.S.-Anforderung deutscher Truppen die Bundeswehr in Nord-Syrien bzw Idlib zur Schutztruppe oder zur Zielscheibe für Al Kaida und Konsorten macht, oder ob sie als „Ersatz“ für oder mit U.S.-Truppen gemeinsam Unterstützung für die vom U.S.-Zentralkommando geführten mehrheitlich kurdischen Milizen der „Syrian Democratic Forces“ leisten, ist aus Sicht der Protagonisten irrelevant. Ziel ist schlicht der Krieg um des Krieges willen.
Explizit Deutschland soll weiter im bereits seit achtzehn Jahren andauernden endlosen und ungewinnbaren Terrorkrieg gehalten werden. Für, wegen, gegen wen und wofür spielt dabei für die Kriegslobby – dazu zählen in Deutschland u.a. de facto alle Parteien, das Militär, sowie der geheimdienstliche und Medien-Komplex – keine Rolle.
(16.10.2019)
Turkey’s military invasion isn’t just about wiping out the Kurds in Syria — it’s a bid to bolster the far right in Turkey. We must oppose this unconscionable act.
(17.02.2020)