Syrian government troops backed by Russian forces have sent extra troops toward the city of Manbij in coordination with the militia that controls it, a militia spokesman said, as Turkish-backed Syrian rebels said they were preparing to attack it, Reuters reported.
The deployment was coordinated with the US-backed militia in Manbij, the spokesman for the Manbij Military Council said.
It is part of the wider buildup of forces in the area.
“The battle will soon start,” Maj. Youssef Hamoud, spokesman for the National Army, the main Turkish-backed rebel force in the area, told Reuters.
“What we see on the front now is reinforcements to all forces to reach full preparedness for the battle.”
President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw US troops from Syria has triggered alarm among the largely Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
They have partnered with Washington in the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and now fear the US move will open the way for Turkey to launch a long-threatened attack against them.
“The Russian army has restored the Syrian-Russian coordination center to Arima village to the west of Manbij city, after its withdrawal from there a while ago,” said Sharfan Darwish, spokesman for the Manbij Military Council.
Manbij was seized in 2016 from ISIL by Syrian militia allied to the SDF, which control roughly a quarter of Syria. Its capture was a milestone in the US-backed campaign against ISIL.
In June the United States and Turkey reached an agreement that would see the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia ousted from the town, but Turkey says its implementation has been delayed. In November Turkish and US troops began joint patrols in the region.
Turkey is determined to cross to the east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria as soon as possible, Ankara’s foreign minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
Ankara regards the YPG as terrorists and has been infuriated by US support for the group in the fight against ISIL.
Trump’s abrupt decision to pull troops out of Syria has handed the fight against ISIL over to Turkey — and effectively given Ankara the green light to push into the remaining Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria.