SDF sees big risk of clash with Turkey in Syria

Brett McGurk, US special envoy for the coalition against Daesh, arrives for a meeting with the Tabqa Civil Council in Tabqa, 55 km from Raqqa. (AFP)

BEIRUT: The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) warned on Thursday of the prospect of fierce confrontation with the Turkish Army in northwestern Syria if it attacks SDF areas, and said this would undermine the assault on Daesh at Raqqa.
Naser Haj Mansour, a senior SDF official, told Reuters the SDF had taken a decision to confront Turkish forces “if they try to go beyond the known lines” in the areas near Aleppo where the sides exchanged fire on Wednesday.
“Certainly there is a big possibility of open and fierce confrontations in this area, particularly given that the SDF is equipped and prepared,” he said. “If it (the Turkish Army) attacks we will defend, and if it attacks there will be clashes.”
Turkey has recently deployed reinforcements into the area, according to Turkey-backed opposition groups, prompting SDF concerns that Ankara is planning to attack nearby areas that are under SDF control.
The SDF is an alliance of Kurdish and Arab groups spearheaded by the People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia which Turkey views as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey.
Numan Kurtulmus, Turkey’s deputy prime minister, said it would retaliate against any cross-border gunfire from the YPG and not remain silent in the face of anti-Turkey activities by terrorist groups abroad. Kurtulmus also reiterated Ankara’s opposition to the US arming of YPG combatants and said US officials would understand this was the “wrong path.”
Mansour said an attack on SDF-controlled areas would “do great harm” to the US-backed Raqqa assault by drawing some SDF fighters away from front lines.
Mansour said SDF forces would soon completely besiege the city by closing the last remaining way out from the south. “There is a plan to impose a complete siege, but if this will take a day or two days, I can’t say,” he said.
He said that Daesh fighters were focusing their efforts on defending certain key positions in the city, “meaning they are conducting fierce battles in some strategic positions.”
“This may be due to a shortage of numbers and ammunition,” he said. He also said Daesh was deploying fewer car bombs than in previous battles and this also indicated a shortage of supplies.
The White House envoy to the US-led coalition bombing Daesh, Brett McGurk, met on Thursday with local officials in the northern Syrian town of Tabqa.
Daesh was ousted from Tabqa and an adjacent dam on May 10 by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces as part of the group’s flagship offensive for Raqqa city further east.
On Thursday, McGurk met with members of the Tabqa Civil Council, which is administering the town’s day-to-day affairs. McGurk was dressed in a crisp white shirt and was accompanied by deputy commander for the coalition, British Army Maj. Gen. Rupert Jones, as well as other coalition officials and SDF members.