Turkish-backed Syrian factions launched an offensive on the northern Syrian city of Manbij, igniting heavy fighting that left at least 30 combatants dead, with the assault coming only a few days after Ankara-aligned forces captured the Kurdish-held Tal Rifaat enclave, according to a Britain-based war monitor.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the clashes erupted between Turkish-backed factions and the Manbij Military Council, an affiliate of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting.
They all said they cover it.
We see it.
We report with just one agenda: the truth.
The SDF, which is a coalition of incorporated Kurdish and other ethnic militias, functions as the official military wing of the self-proclaimed Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria, or AANES, covering a large stretch of territory near Iraq and Turkey. The SOHR reported the death of at least nine Turkish-backed fighters, while the SDF confirmed “fierce clashes” that resulted in the deaths of at least 22 soldiers and the wounding of another 40.
The Ankara-aligned groups declared control of large areas of Manbij, posting videos on their Telegram channels purportedly showing fighters inside the city. However, there has been no independent verification of the videos.
This offensive follows days of rapid gains by opposition forces, which recently overran key government-held areas, including the capital, Damascus, deposing President Bashar al-Assad, the fractured country’s longtime dictator.
While the SDF opposes Assad’s rule and has long been a key US partner in the fight against the Islamic State, the force has in recent years found itself more in direct contention with Turkish-supported groups, namely the Syrian National Army.