Russia sends army reinforcements to Kurdish-controlled northern Syria
Russia deployed army reinforcements, on Wednesday, to an space of northern Syria managed by Kurdish fighters and authorities forces, residents and a conflict monitor stated, amid fears of a Turkish floor incursion.
The transfer by Damascus ally Moscow comes after Ankara launched air strikes on Kurdish targets in Syria and Iraq on November 20, every week after the lethal Istanbul bombing it blamed on Kurdish militants, who denied duty.
Residents of Tal Rifaat, a Kurdish-held enclave north of Aleppo, instructed AFP that Russian reinforcements had arrived within the metropolis.
Inform Rifaat is situated 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of the border with Turkey. Kurdish forces management the town and surrounding villages, and Russian forces are already within the space.
Residents stated that Russian forces arrange roadblocks in a close-by village separating it from positions beneath the management of Turkish forces and their proxies from the Syrian opposition.
Turkish proxies management areas round Tal Rifaat from the north, whereas Russian-backed Syrian forces management areas to the south.
After a collection of airstrikes, Turkey threatened a floor incursion into northern Syria, together with the Tel Rifaat enclave in addition to Kobani and Manbij within the east.
Kobani and Manbij are beneath the management of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which incorporates the Kurdish Individuals’s Safety Models, one of many teams Turkey accuses of being behind the Istanbul bombing.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based conflict monitor, stated Russia was reinforcing its forces at a government-held air base close to Tal Rifaat.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman instructed AFP that the reinforcements could also be an try to “cease or delay the Turkish operation.”
Their commander stated on Tuesday that Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria had known as on Russia to dissuade Turkey from launching a floor offensive towards them.
The Observatory stated that Russian reinforcements additionally arrived on the outskirts of the border metropolis of Kobani.
Russian forces have been deployed to some Kurdish-held border areas in northern Syria after a 2019 deal that sought to avert an earlier risk of a Turkish incursion.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated final week that Turkey was extra decided than ever to safe its border with Syria from assaults by Kurdish fighters, threatening to launch a floor operation “on the most acceptable time”.
Since 2016, Turkey has carried out successive operations towards Kurdish forces in northern Syria who’ve put in their proxies in a number of areas alongside the border.
(AFP)
