Turkey's Syrian proxies push towards Manbij

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region –Turkish-backed Syrian proxy groups launched their push towards the Kurdish-controlled town of Manbij on Monday afternoon, opening a new front in the seventh day of Turkey's operation aimed at clearing northern Syria of Kurdish presence.

Turkey’s offensive in northern Syria, dubbed Operation Peace Spring, aims to establish a ‘safe zone’ in which up to three million Syrian refugees living in Turkey can be resettled.  The offensive is being carried out with the assistance of proxy groups operating under a Syrian National Army umbrella with Turkish discretion.

“National Army forces start to open a new front with the aim of liberating the city of Manbij and its surroundings,” said a Syrian National Army statement.

Manbij is the westernmost territory controlled by groups affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Reportedly used by Islamic State (ISIS) to transport fighters into Syria, it was liberated by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in 2016.

It has been long an aim of the Turkish government to have Kurdish groups ousted from the area. The town is covered with what is called the Manbij Roadmap, in which there have been joint Turkish-American patrols in the area, and the makeup of the city’s administration is conditional upon Turkish vetting. 

Manbij Military Council (MMC), the multi-ethnic local defense group of SDF, confirmed Monday they were embroiled in clashes with what it called “mercenaries of the Euphrates Shield factions,” in reference to Turkish-backed forces. 

"Our forces then defended and responded the sources of shelling, and as a result, fierce clashes between our forces and the Euphrates Shield Mercenary factions erupted," said the MMC.

As a result, four Turkish-backed fighters were killed after a vehicle they were travelling in was destroyed, the council reported.

Rudaw’s reporters based in Rojava reported clashes in the Manbij countryside along the Sajur river, the demarcation line separating SDF-controlled areas from Turkish-backed groups in northern Aleppo.

Speaking at a press conference at Istanbul's Ataturk airport, Turkey's President appeared to confirm on Monday that a new front would be opened in Manbij.

"Concerning Manbij, we are currently about to implement the decisions as we have promised," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Erdogan said Turkey's entry into Manbij would mean giving the city back to "its real owners, namely our Arab brothers".

US President Trump announced the beginning of the US troop withdrawal last Monday, after a phone call between the US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Teyyip Erdogan, Trump greenlighted a Turkish incursion into Northern Syria.

Since then, the 1,000 US troops stationed in Northern Syria to act as a buffer against Turkish threats have been withdrawn and moved southwards. According to Rudaw's reporter in Rojava, US forces stationed in Manbij have begun pulling out.

Syrian Arab Army troops have also entered Manbij, state media outlet SANA reported Monday night, after a deal was reached Sunday night between the SDF and Damascus to deploy government forces in Kurdish-held areas to stave off the Turkish attack.

Syrian forces have already been deployed to the town of Tabqa and its airbase, to Ain Issa, and to Tel Tammar. Syrian forces are also set to be deployed to Kobani.

Turkish territorial gains since its operation began last Wednesday have been limited, with full capture of the border towns of Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain) and Gire Spi (Tel Abyad) so far eluding it.

The SDF claimed Sari Kani to be under its full control on Monday, with the clearing the town’s industrial neighborhood of Turkish-backed groups.

However footage from Tel Abyad published Monday purportedly shows the lowering of a YPG flag hanging in the town center, and its replacement with the flag of the Syrian interim government in a symbolic announcement of change of control.

According to the UK-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 69 civilians have been killed in Syria over the course of the Turkish offensive.