On December 25, a pro-Turkish militant group, Jabhat al-Aisalat wal-Tanmia, declared the “start” of military operation against the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara describes as a local branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in the Syrian area east of the Euphrates River.
Over the past few days, the Turkish Army and pro-Turkish militant groups have concentrated a large number of military equipment and fighters in the areas near the territory controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria. The PYD and its military wing the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), are the core of the SDF.
#جبهة_الأصالة_والتنمية
بدأت معركة تحرير شرق الفرات من عصابات PYD – PKK الإرهابيةدعواتكم بالتوفيق والنصر pic.twitter.com/hn4cyZ22gL— جبهة الأصالةوالتنمية (@alasalawatanmya) December 25, 2018
Despite the declaration of the ‘start’ of the operation by Jabhat al-Aisalat wal-Tanmia, there have been no official comments by Turkey on this issue so far.
Meanwhile, reports appear that the SDF’s Manbij Military Council has once again turned to be friends of the Russians and welcomed deplyoment of the Russian-Syrian checkpoint near Manbij. The checkpont is allegedly located near al-Arima.
The return of the #Russian-Syrian Coordination Center to the town of Al-Arima west of #Manbaj
Sources in the #MSD talks on the last three days with #Russia resulted in an agreement to ensure the reactivation of the coordination center …https://t.co/8QNaQUrGol pic.twitter.com/52lgoWaSIu— Furat FM (@ManbijFm) December 25, 2018
