Skip to content

Cart

Your cart is empty

Article: Turkish-backed rebels take north Syria town from US-backed SDF, Turkish source says

Turkish-backed rebels take north Syria town from US-backed SDF, Turkish source says

Turkish-backed rebels take north Syria town from US-backed SDF, Turkish source says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A rebel fighter sits on the back of a vehicle in Homs countryside, after Syrian rebels pressed their lightning advance on Saturday, saying they had seized most of the south, as government forces dug in to defend the key central city of Homs to try to save President Bashar al-Assad's 24-year rule, in Syria December 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Hasano

 

 

By Ece Toksabay and Ezgi Erkoyun

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey-backed Syrian opposition groups took control of the northern Syrian town of Manbij from U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces (SDF), a Turkish security source said on Monday, a day after rebels declared Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ouster.

The SDF had been holding the town in recent days amid intense fighting with the Syrian National Army (SNA) and other Turkey-backed groups.

Clashes in the north continued even as the world was caught surprised by the opposition's swift successes in initially seizing Aleppo and, on Sunday, the capital Damascus in the south.

The lightening offensive took less than two weeks, after a 13-year war.

A video, verified by Reuters, showed opposition forces being welcomed by people in Manbij, which is some 30 km (19 miles) south of the Turkish border and west of the Euphrates river.

Turkish state-owned Anadolu news agency reported the area is being searched for possible landmines and traps left behind by the Kurdish militia.

The SDF is the main ally in a U.S. coalition against Islamic State militants. Turkey says it is spearheaded by a terrorist group closely tied to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years.

Abdurrahman Mustafa, head of the Turkey-backed opposition's provisional government, congratulated the troops that took Manbij.

"We stand with pride and honor with our heroic forces, and we support them to complete the liberation of every inch of our land and achieve the aspirations of our people for freedom and dignity," Mustafa said in a post on X.

The United States said it will maintain its presence in eastern Syria, where the SDF is concentrated, and will take necessary steps to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State. The United States is estimated to have 900 troops in eastern Syria as a hedge against ISIS militants.

Separately, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said U.S. strikes in Syria in recent days were focused on ISIS cells to hinder them from taking advantage of fallout from the rebellion.



(Additional reporting by Timothy Kelly; Writing by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Ed Osmond and Jonathan Spicer)

MORE FROM THE

OAF NATION NEWSROOM

US searching for journalist Austin Tice in Syria prisons, WH says

US searching for journalist Austin Tice in Syria prisons, WH says

U.S. officials are communicating with people on the ground in Syria to seek information about Austin Tice, an American journalist captured more than 12 years ago in Syria, White House national secu...

Read more
Zelenskiy seeks diplomatic end to Russia's war, floats role for foreign troops

Zelenskiy seeks diplomatic end to Russia's war, floats role for foreign troops

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made the case on Monday for a diplomatic settlement to Russia's 33-month-old war in Ukraine and raised the idea of foreign troops being deployed in his country until i...

Read more
#3 Liquid error (layout/theme line 179): Could not find asset snippets/back-in-stock-helper.liquid