Over 100 dead in Syria amid pro-Turkish and pro-Kurdish forces conflict
According to a war monitor, at least 101 fighters have been killed in northern Syria in fights between Turkish-backed forces and Syrian Kurdish fighters, Middle East Eye reports. Altercations began the evening of January 3rd in various villages near the city of Manjabi.
On January 5th the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that out of the deceased, 85 were Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), and 16 were fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Backed by the US, the SDF said that it had repelled attaches by fighters supported by Turkish air strikes.
The fighting started when the SNA renewed its campaign against the SDF, which concurred with a rebel campaign that removed Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in late November.
Manjbi and Tal Rifaat in northern Aleppo- areas previously held by SDF- have been captured as a result of the fight, with both sides sustaining heavy losses.
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Rami Abdel Rahman, SOHR chief, contends that the SNA has the cities of Kobane (also known as Ain al-Arab) and al-Tabqa in its sights, on their way to Raqqa.
With sweeping control of northeastern Syria and parts of Deir Ezzor in the east, the SDF has formed an autonomous administration in the area since the withdrawal of Syrian government forces during the civil war.
The Turkish military routinely targets Kurdish fighters in Syria and Iraq, alleging they are linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Ankara flags as a terrorist organisation.
The commander of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that drove Assad from power, has made comments about plans for the SDF to be incorporated into Syria’s future national army.
Middle East Eye
