By Sirwan Kajjo
Hours after Syrian rebel forces announced the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, Turkish-backed armed groups launched an attack Sunday on a town in northern Syria under the control of U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led forces.
The Syrian National Army, or SNA, a coalition of Turkish-backed militias, announced advances in several parts of Manbij, a town in northern Syria, as intense clashes erupted with fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), according to the Turkey’s state-run Anadolu.
But the Manbij Military Council, which is affiliated with the SDF, denied that “large parts of the city” have been controlled by Turkish-backed groups, saying in a statement Sunday that its fighters were continuing their military mission in Manbij.
The SDF said that several administrative buildings in Manbij were targeted in Turkish military strikes. The Turkish military has not commented on the developments in the city.
Manbij, located in Aleppo province, has been under the control of U.S.-backed SDF fighters since it was liberated from Islamic State militants in 2016. But Turkey, which views the SDF as a terrorist organization, has been supporting rebel groups in efforts to expel the Kurdish-led forces from the area.
A reporter with VOA’s Kurdish Service in northern Syria said that after hours of fierce fighting between the two sides, some Turkish-backed groups have retreated from Manbij while others remain positioned outside the city. He added that SNA’s Sunday attack was aided by some sleeper cells inside the city.
No U.S. personnel were involved in the Sunday clashes. The U.S. has about 900 troops in Syria that are part of a global coalition to aid SDF fighters against remnants of IS in the country. They are primarily stationed in northeast and eastern Syria and have no presence near Manbij.
The 11-day rapid rebel offensive across the country, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, resulted in the capture of the capital Damascus and other strategic cities in northwest and central Syria. Simultaneously, an operation led by SNA factions aimed at dislodging Kurdish forces from parts of Aleppo province.
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Following the collapse of the Syrian regime in Damascus, SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi stated that the country was experiencing a historic moment.
“This change is an opportunity to build a new Syria based on democracy and justice that guarantee the rights of all Syrians,” he said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
This story originated in VOA’s Kurdish Service.
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