BEIRUT: Syriantroops deployed in support of Kurdish forces around a strategic northern cityon Friday, in a shift of alliances hastened by last week's announcement of a USmilitary withdrawal. Nearly eight years into Syria's deadly conflict, the movemarked another key step in President Bashar al-Assad's Russian-backed drive toreassert control over the country.
The Syrian armyannounced that it had raised the flag in Manbij, a strategic city close to theTurkish border where Kurdish forces have been deployed since 2016 and whereUS-led coalition forces are also stationed. A military spokesman said in atelevised announcement that the army would be bent on "crushing terrorismand defeating all invaders and occupiers". More than 300 government forcesdeployed in the Manbij area, according to the Syrian Observatory for HumanRights.
Nura Al-Hamed,deputy head of the Manbij local authority, told AFP that the regime deploymentwas the result of Russian-sponsored negotiations. "The regime forces willnot enter the city of Manbij itself but will deploy on the demarcationline" with Turkish-backed Syrian groups, she said. Hamed said that US andFrench coalition forces stationed there remained at their positions andcontinued to conduct patrols. The US military said the Syrian army had notentered the city itself.
"Despiteincorrect information about changes to the military forces in Manbij city, (theUS-led coalition) has seen no indication of these claims being true," USCentral Command spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Earl Brown said.
Kurdish shift
The Syrian army'sdeployment creates a regime buffer arching across northern Syria that fullyseparates the Turkish army and its proxies from the Kurds. Turkey reacted tothe deployment by warning "all sides to stay away from provocativeactions" while a large convoy of its Syrian auxiliaries were seen movingcloser to the western edge of Manbij later on Friday.
US PresidentDonald Trump's shock withdrawal announcement last week left the Kurds in thecold. The People's Protection Units (YPG) have been the backbone of an alliancethat has spearheaded the US-backed fight against the Islamic State group inSyria. They are currently battling the last remnants of the jihadists' oncesprawling "caliphate" in the country's far east, near the border withIraq.
A US withdrawalwill leave them exposed to an assault by Turkey, which has thousands of proxyfighters in northern Syria and wants to crush Kurdish forces it considersterrorists. The Kurds welcomed the regime advance, a pragmatic shift inalliances that will dash their aspirations for autonomy but could help them cuttheir losses.
"We invitethe Syrian government forces... to assert control over the areas our forceshave withdrawn from, particularly in Manbij, and to protect these areas againsta Turkish invasion," the YPG said in a statement. After Manbij, the focusis likely to move to Raqa, a mostly Arab city that the Kurds liberated from ISlast year and that the regime has vowed to retake.
Turkey saidSyrian Kurds "don't have the right" to seek regime help but Russia,the main foreign player in Syria since it intervened to rescue Assad in 2015,hailed the latest development. "Of course, this will help in stabilisingthe situation. The enlargement of the zone under the control of governmentforces... is without doubt a positive trend," said Kremlin spokesmanDmitry Peskov.
Peskov said thesituation would be discussed yesterday during a visit to Moscow by the Turkishforeign and defense ministers, to "clarify" the situation and"synchronize actions" between the two countries. This year the regimeretook large swathes of territory with the help of Russian firepower, afterthree years ago controlling less than a third of the country.
Diplomatic drive
The governmentousted rebels from their bastions in and around the capital Damascus andflushed out other pockets to reopen key transport and trade routes. Withinternal opposition in tatters and UN-backed political negotiations stillborn,Assad is now trying to shed his pariah status and looking for funds to rebuildthe country.
The US pulloutfrom Syria risks opening a highway for other regional players such as Turkeyand Iran, a prospect that some of Assad's erstwhile foes are keen to counter.On Thursday, the United Arab Emirates -- a Turkish rival in the region --reopened its embassy in Damascus, nearly seven years after severing ties andrecognizing a now defunct opposition umbrella.
The move was thelatest in a series of developments building up to the return of Assad's Syriainto the Arab fold. Bahrain also announced it would reopen its mission inDamascus and observers expect regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia to confirm thattrend in the coming weeks. The Arab League has admitted that the reintegrationof Syria, which was suspended from the regional body when it intensified itsrepression of anti-government protests seven years ago, is on the table. - AFP