From the BBC:
“Turkey-Syria offensive: Kurds
reach deal with Syrian army”
Dozens have been killed since the
assault against Kurdish forces in Syria began on Wednesday The Kurds in Syria say the Syrian government
has agreed to send its army to the northern border to try to halt Turkey's
offensive against them. Syrian state media earlier reported that government
forces had been deployed to the north. It follows the US decision to pull all
its remaining troops from the area over the "untenable" situation
there. The Turkish assault, launched last week, is aimed at forcing Kurdish forces
from along the border area. Areas under control of the Kurdish-led Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF), the main US ally in the area, have come under heavy
bombardment over the weekend, with Turkey making gains in two key border towns.
Dozens of civilians and fighters have
been killed on both sides. In a separate development on Sunday, Kurdish
officials said nearly 800 relatives of foreign Islamic State (IS) members had
escaped from Ain Issa, a camp in the north, as clashes raged nearby. The
Turkish offensive and US withdrawal has drawn an international outcry, as the
SDF were the main Western allies in the battle against IS in Syria. But Turkey
views elements of the Kurdish groups within the force as terrorists and says it
wants to drive them away from a "safe zone" reaching 30km into Syria.
It also plans to resettle more than three million Syrian refugees currently in
Turkey within the zone. Many of them are not Kurds. Critics have warned this
could lead to ethnic cleansing of the local Kurdish population.
What do we know about the deal?
The Kurdish-led administration in
northern Syria said the Syrian army would deploy along the entire length of the
border as part of the agreement. This deployment would assist the SDF in
countering "this aggression and liberating the areas that the Turkish army
and mercenaries had entered", it said in a statement. The move also
"paves the way to liberate the rest of the Syrian cities occupied by the
Turkish army such as Afrin", it added. Turkish forces and pro-Turkey
Syrian rebels forced Kurdish fighters from Afrin back in 2018 after a two-month
operation. The deal represents a significant shift in alliances for the Kurds,
after losing the military protection of their long-term US partners in the
area. It is not yet known what the Syrian government has committed to. However SDF chief Mazloum Abdi acknowledged
"there would be painful compromises" with the Assad government and
its Russian allies, in an article for Foreign Policy magazine. "We do not
trust their promises. To be honest, it is hard to know whom to trust," he
writes. "But if we have to choose
between compromises and the genocide of our people, we will surely choose life
for our people." The deal follows
US President Donald Trump's surprise move last week to pull dozens of troops
from pockets in the north-east, effectively paving the way for the Turkish
operation against the Kurdish fighters. At the time, the SDF called the move
"a stab in the back".
What about the latest US
withdrawal?
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper
earlier announced the Pentagon was moving up to 1,000 troops away from the
north after learning that Turkey was pushing further into Syria than previously
expected. Describing the situation there as "untenable", he said the
SDF had been "looking to cut a deal" with the Syrian government and
Russia to counter the Turkish attack. Turkey "likely intends" to push
west and south, says US Defence Secretary Mark Esper This, he continued, would
leave the US forces stuck between "two opposing advancing armies". Hours
after Mr Esper's comments, Syria said it was deploying its forces to the north
to "confront a Turkish aggression". It is not yet clear where exactly
the troops are being sent. On Sunday, President Trump tweeted that it was
"very smart" not to be involved in the fighting "for a
change", saying engagement in Middle East conflict was a mistake.
What has Turkey seized so far ?
Turkey is pushing deeper into northern
Syria. On Sunday, President Erdogan said
his forces had already captured 109 sq km (42 square miles) of territory,
including 21 villages. He told reporters the key border town of Ras al-Ain had
come under Turkish control - though the SDF said they had pushed Turkish forces
back to the town's outskirts. Mr Erdogan
said Turkish forces had also besieged the town of Tal Abyad, some 120km (75
miles) away. The UK-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights (SOHR) said Turkey was in almost complete control there. Both Ras al-Ain
and Tal Abyad are key goals in the Turkish offensive against the SDF. Turkey
also announced that its Syrian allies on the ground had seized a key motorway -
called M4 - some 30-35km south of the border.
What are the casualty figures?
They're rising, with civilians
killed on both sides of the border: More than 50 civilians and over 100 Kurdish
fighters killed in north-eastern Syria, SOHR says SDF says the Kurdish forces'
death toll is 56 and Turkey gives a higher figure of 440 Eighteen civilians
killed in southern Turkey, according to Turkish reports Four Turkish soldiers
and 16 pro-Turkish Syrian fighters killed in Syria, Turkey says The UN
humanitarian agency OCHA says up to 160,000 civilians are now on the move and
it expects the number to rise. It says it is increasingly concerned about the
safety of its staff in the region.
What about IS?
The fighting has spilled over to
areas close to IS detainee camps. Fears
that Kurdish forces will be unable to keep IS prisoners confined appeared to
have been realised when officials at the Ain Issa camp said nearly 800
relatives of foreign IS members had escaped. The SOHR said the number of people who fled
was 100. It not known where they have fled to. The camp holds about 12,000
displaced people, previously including nearly 1,000 foreign women and children
with jihadist links.
Will Islamic State re-emerge?
The SDF says it is currently
holding more than 12,000 suspected IS members in seven prisons, and at least
4,000 of them are foreign nationals. IS has claimed recent car bombings and on
Saturday declared a new campaign in Syria. Turkey says it will take responsibility for IS
prisoners it finds during its offensive.
^ Because Trump had the US abandon
the Kurds to near-certain death it only makes sense for the Kurds to ask the
Syrians for help. With that said this is
a dark stain on Trump and all the innocent deaths fall on him. ^
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