Encouraged by the change of power in Damascus, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, great protector of the Syrian rebellion, took advantage of the new situation to launch the pro-Turkish rebels of the Syrian National Army (ANS) to attack several towns in northeastern Syria which were previously controlled by Kurdish forces. Driven from Tall Rifaat on Sunday December 8, from Manbij the next day, the Kurdish fighters are now threatened with being driven out of Kobané by Turkish auxiliaries. On Tuesday, December 10, dozens of airstrikes targeted the Kobané region, where the ANS benefits from the support of Turkish combat planes and armed drones.
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In contrast to the rebels of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTC), who strove, during their lightning offensive across Syria, to spare the civilian populations, favoring negotiation to get the Kurdish fighters out of the Aleppo airport which the latter controlled, the ANS sowed chaos in the conquered cities. “Right now, thousands of people are fleeing Kobané out of fear of the Syrian National Army affiliated with Turkey. A fear much greater than that inspired by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, who so far has not committed any violations, massacres or attacks against civilians. Conversely, the ANS receives its directives from the Turkish state, and it proceeds to eliminate the Kurds”underlined Ahmad Arag, the secretary general of the Syrian National Democratic Alliance, reached by telephone on Tuesday in Aleppo, in northern Syria.
Supported by the United States for their role in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) organization, the Kurdish fighters, who administer a vast area in eastern Syria, appear to be the losers of the new situation. The ANS offensive corresponds in every way to the plan developed for years by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, eager to push the Kurds as far as possible from the border area. The Turkish president also welcomed, on Monday, the successes of his auxiliaries on the ground, accusing the Syrian Kurds of seeking to “turn chaos into opportunity”.
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Concocted for several years, its plan aims to extend towards the east the “buffer zone” already conquered by the Turkish army between 2016 and 2019, inside Syria, along a good part of the common border. which extends over 900 kilometers in total.
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