At least 37 people, including five civilians, were killed Thursday in new clashes between Kurdish-dominated forces and Turkish-backed factions in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said. .
The NGO reported “fierce fighting in the surroundings of Manbij (…) during the last hours between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and factions of the National Army” aided by the Turkish air force.
Based in the United Kingdom but with a vast network of sources in Syria, the OSDH reported “37 deaths according to a preliminary report”, mainly fighters supported by Turkey, but also six FDS fighters and five civilians. .
According to the OSDH, at least 322 people died when fighting resumed between the two camps in December in the Manbij region, when Islamist rebels took power in Syria.
The FDS, partners of the West united within an international anti-jihadist coalition, have been the spearhead of the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group.
Thanks to the Syrian conflict that began in 2011, they took advantage of a withdrawal of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces to take control of large swathes of territory in northeast Syria.
-Turkey accuses the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main component of the SDF, of having links with armed Kurdish separatists on its soil and threatened on Tuesday to launch a military operation against them.
On Wednesday, Mazloum Abdi, leader of the FDS, said he had called on Damascus to “intervene” to support a ceasefire, following a meeting with the new authorities.
The town of Manbij, held for years by Kurdish forces, fell into the hands of pro-Turkish armed groups in December.
The United States is working “very hard” to respond to Turkey’s “legitimate concerns” for its security and prevent an offensive by Ankara against Kurdish fighters in Syria, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Wednesday.
