On October 15, troops of the US-led coalition clashed with “unknown” militants near the Syrian city of Manbij, which is controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). While the coalition avoids to point out that they were members of some Turkish-backed group, there are little doubts in this.
“They [coalitions forces] received gunfire from undisclosed persons and returned fire, and it ended quickly, skirmish at best,” spokesman for the US-led coalition Colonel Sean Ryan told Kurdistan 24. “But we don’t know who fired and it was during a US-MMC [Manbij Military Council] patrol.”
The MMC is a part of the SDF. The body had been established in order to hide a large presence of Kurdish militas in the area. The reason is that Turkey sees Kurdish militias as terrorists and a large threat to the Turkish national security.
“US troops stationed in Manbij clash with the Turkish-backed armed factions. On the 15th of this month, the armed Turkish-backed factions targeted the village of Bughaz in Manbij,” journalist Hoseng Hesen wrote on Twitter. He also released a video on the incident.
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US troops stationed in Manbij clash with the turkish-backed armed factions. On the 15th of this month, the armed #turkish-backed factions targeted the village of Bughaz in #Manbij, pic.twitter.com/oYb4OvMxNl— Hoşeng Hesen (@HosengHesen) October 23, 2018
More about the Turkish strategy in northern Syria:
