On September 20, the Turkish military deployed hundreds of armored vehicles, battle tanks and trucks on the border with the northern Syrian town of Tell Abyad, which is under the control of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), according to the Hawar News Agency (ANHA).
Few hours earlier, the Kurdish news agency reported that the Turkish military shelled a school in the vicinity of Tell Abyad from its positions on the Syrian-Turkish border. Such attacks are uncommon, which suggests that Turkey is preparing for a military action of some sort.
The Turkish military and its Syrian proxies captured the Kurdish region of Afrin, in the northern Aleppo countryside, after a large-scale military operation earlier this year. Later, Turkish Army began massing troops west of the SDF-held city of Manbij, which forced the U.S. to agree to a roadmap that allowed Turkey to impact the administration of the city after the withdrawal of Kurdish SDF units.
A Turkish military operation in Tell Abyad is highly unlikely due to the presence of the US-led coalition in the city and its vicinity. However, Turkey may be planning to repeat what it did around Manbij and force Kurdish forces to withdraw from Tell Abyad.
