The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will counter Iraq’s mostly Iran-backed Shiite paramilitary forces if the latter enters areas under its control, a Kurdish leader told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat in an interview.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, which groups Kurdish and Arab fighters, said they will never accept the presence of Iran and they will never under any circumstances act as a bridge between PMU and the Syrian regime.

On Tuesday, a US official said the United States has started sending arms to Kurdish forces to help them regain Al-Raqqa in Syria from ISIS.



Last Update: Wednesday, 31 May 2017 KSA 17:41 - GMT 14:41 </s> A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander has said he would fight Iraqi Shia forces if they attempted to enter territory they controlled in Syria.

Speaking to the Kurdistan24 news site, Talal Silo said that the SDF would not allow the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMUs), also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, to come into their areas.

“If Hashd forces attempt to enter our areas, our forces [SDF] will fight them,” he said.

The SDF is a US-backed coalition of Kurdish-Arab forces, largely dominated by the pro-Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and its political wing the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

Although direct conflict has been rare, the SDF is officially opposed to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and some PMUs have entered into Syria to fight for Assad.

However, Silo's comments indicate the SDF would prevent the PMUs from using the section of the Syrian-Iraqi border they control as a means of deploying forces in Syria.

Silo's warning contrasts starkly with earlier comments made by the PYD representative in Iraqi Kurdistan, Gharib Hesso, who indicated that the PYD would be interested in allying with the PMUs in order to build a new "corridor" in Iraq to Baghdad in order to circumvent an embargo placed on YPG-controlled territory in northern Syria.

"Not only for rebuilding, but for the people, so they can live in calm, and there will be food, clothes, and can sell their oil. But if the road is closed, we will resist," he said, as reported by Middle East Eye.

"It would not only be good for Syria, but also for Iraq. The people in Mosul also have their families in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor. They can go to the border to help each other," he said.

"Maybe Turkey and the KDP will try to prevent this," he added, referring to the main party in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Both Turkey and the KDP see the PYD as being linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency in Turkey for decades.

The PMUs' move has alarmed the Trump administration. Some US officials fear that Iran would be further empowered by an Iranian corridor through Iraqi territory to Syria, as well as strengthening Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"They [in Washington] believe there is a corridor project which depends on the Hashd al-Shaabi that are close to Iran controlling the border points to facilitate overland transport via the Syrian desert to Palmyra and then to Assad's statelet," said Nicholas Heras, the Bacevich fellow at the Centre for a New American Security.

The statement from the SDF, however, would indicate they were not going to allow such a corridor to be constructed by the PMUs.

A US government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was an "issue we're watching closely and we're keenly aware of the evolving events in the ground and their potential ramifications".

"In Iraq we're supporting the government of Iraq to re-establish control over the entire country and securing the Iraqi border will naturally be a big part of that," he said.

The PMUs have also publicly come out in support of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a Yazidi militia based in Sinjar, which is also linked to the PKK. Turkey and KRG have been concerned about the possibility of Sinjar becoming a new hub for the PKK.

The YBS were at one point also considered to be part of the PMUs - and apparently are still considered as such by the PMUs - although unlike other PMUs they reportedly no longer receive funding from Baghdad. </s> AMMAN (Reuters) - U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said they expelled had Syrian troops that briefly took control of a string of villages in oil rich areas east of the Euphrates river near the Iraqi border on Sunday.

SDF forces led by the Kurdish YPG militia said they had waged a counter-attack against Syrian troops it said were backed by Russian forces, adding they were driven “far away” from four villages they had seized earlier in the day.

“Our forces regained the initiative,” they said in a statement.

It did not say if the U.S. coalition took part in the operation. Washington has a strong military presence in the area in eastern Syria which holds the bulk of the country’s oil and gas reserves, according to regional diplomatic sources.

A U.S. army statement sent to Reuters confirmed the attack on SDF forces by what it called pro-regime forces near Deir al-Zor city and said the “coalition used established deconfliction channels to de-escalate the situation”, without elaborating.

“The coalition remains committed to our SDF partners in the campaign to defeat Daesh (Islamic State) in eastern Syria,” the statement added.

A Western diplomatic source earlier told Reuters U.S. coalition jets from bases in northern Syria hit the attacking forces which were believed to include Iranian-backed militias operating in Deir al-Zor area.

Iranian-backed forces led by Iraqi and Lebanese Hezbolah Shi’ite militias played a major role in defeating the militants last year in eastern Syria.

A source in the SDF also confirmed coalition forces had intervened.

Earlier, the Syrian army said it had captured a string of villages east of the Euphrates near the border with Iraq held by Kurdish-led forces, state television said. It gave no explanation for the move.

The U.S.-backed proxy forces spearheaded by the YPG since last year control much of the territory east of the Euphrates in Deir al-Zor province as part of a major aerial and ground campaign led by the Pentagon that drove Islamic State militants from eastern Syria and their former de facto capital Raqqa.

The Russian-backed Syrian army has rarely clashed with SDF forces in its campaign against Islamic State and had kept away from their areas east of the Euphrates, focusing on regaining territory from the militants west of the river.

There have been elaborate “deconfliction lines” separating the coalition forces on the eastern side of the river from the Russian and Iranian backed forces on the western side to prevent clashes, U.S army officials and defense analysts say.

In February, U.S. airstrikes killed and wounded hundreds of pro-government forces including Russian paramilitary contractors advancing near the eastern city of Deir al-Zor towards one of the largest gas fields in the hands of U.S.-backed forces.

Before the announcement that the Syrian army had taken control of the villages, the SDF said they were engaged in heavy clashes with Syrian army troops on the outskirts of the village of Janin near the Euphrates.

They accused Syrian authorities of seeking to disrupt preparations by the U.S.-led coalition to resume an imminent offensive against Islamic State in several pockets of territory along the middle Euphrates River Valley that they still control.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Thursday he expected a “re-energized” effort against Islamic State militants in eastern Syria in the coming days.

U.S. officials have said that in recent days they have seen SDF fighters returning to the area of the Euphrates where the militants operate to relaunch new operations against them.

The Kurdish-led militia has blamed a Turkish offensive in Afrin against it for diverting efforts away from the fight against the militants. </s> The US-led coalition and US-backed forces are on full alert over the collapse of ISIS in the Syrian province of Aleppo and the success of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) against the terrorist group at the Iraqi border with Syria.

The Kurdish Security Police of the Asayish held a meeting on Monday in Qamishli city to discuss the formation of a defence system ‘to confront the Iranian project’ that is allegedly supported by by the Syrian government. In other words, the Asayish is concerned that a part of the Syrian-Iraqi border was liberated from ISIS by the PMU.

The Asayish is a 15,000-strong force controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). At the same time, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) that are the core of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are military wings of the PYD. Thus, the Asayish statement could be considered as an official position of the PYD and the SDF.

Furthermore, the Asayish was involved in heavy clashes against the National Defense Forces and the Syrian Army in the city of Hasakah in August 2016. The Asayish was supported by the YPG and the US-led coalition.

The US-backed force has also increased its activity on the southern bank of Euphrates capturing the villages al-Mushayrifah, Bir Akhu Hadlah, Bir al-David and Bir Hajj al-Mufazi near Tabqah as well as the Baath Dam and the villages of Hawra, al-Barouda and al-Matiyura south of it. According to some experts, the SDF is aiming to reach the Resafa Crossroads in order to cut off the Salamiyah-Raqqah highway that links up the SAA-held city of Salamiyah with Raqqah, and to expand its presence near the N4 Highway in order to prevent the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) Tiger Forces from reaching the province of Raqqah.

The SDF advance followed a collapse of the ISIS defenses in the countryside of Maskanah and a failure of US-backed militant groups to counter government forces in southeastern Syria along the borders with Jordan and Iraq.

Thus, the US-led coalition may even decide to develop the SDF advance in the direction of Deir Ezzor in order to capture Deir Ezzor oil and gas fields on pretext of the battle against ISIS. However, this will be possible only if ISIS units deployed in Raqqah continue keep a defense attitude and avoid counter-attacking advancing SDF units.
• SDF VOWS TO PREVENT ANY CORRIDOR BETWEEN IRAN AND ‘SYRIAN REGIME’ – MEDIA
• Military Situation In Syria On May 31, 2017 (Map Update)
• US-BACKED MILITANTS RETREATING FROM MORE AREAS IN SOUTHEASTERN SYRIA – REPORTS </s> BEIRUT/ISTANBUL, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition is working with its Syrian militia allies to set up a new border force of 30,000 personnel, the coalition said on Sunday, a move that has added to Turkish anger over U.S. support for Kurdish-dominated forces in Syria.

A senior Turkish official told Reuters the U.S. training of the new "Border Security Force" was the reason that the U.S. charge d'affaires was summoned in Ankara last week, and President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said the development was worrying and unacceptable.

The force, whose inaugural class is currently being trained, will be deployed at the borders of the area controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - an alliance of militias in northern and eastern Syria dominated by the Kurdish YPG.

In an email to Reuters, the coalition's Public Affairs Office confirmed details of the new force reported by The Defense Post. About half the force will be SDF veterans, and recruiting for the other half is under way, the Public Affairs Office said.

The force will deploy along the border with Turkey to the north, the Iraqi border to the southeast and along the Euphrates River Valley, which broadly acts as the dividing line separating the U.S.-backed SDF and Syrian government forces backed by Iran and Russia.

U.S. support for the SDF has put enormous strain on ties with NATO ally Turkey, which views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - a group that has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey and is considered a terrorist group by the European Union, Turkey and the United States.

Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said that Washington "is taking worrying steps to legitimise this organisation and make it lasting in the region".

"It is absolutely not possible for this to be accepted," he said, adding that Turkey "will continue its fight against any terrorist organisation regardless of its name and shape within and outside its borders".

Syria's main Kurdish groups have emerged as one of the few winners of the Syrian war and are working to entrench their autonomy over large parts of northern Syria.

Washington opposes those autonomy plans, even as it has backed the SDF, the main partner for the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Syria.

The coalition said the BSF would operate under SDF command and about 230 individuals were currently undergoing training in its inaugural class.

"Efforts are taken to ensure individuals serve in areas close to their homes. Therefore, the ethnic composition of the force will be relative to the areas in which they serve.

"More Kurds will serve in the areas in northern Syria. More Arabs will serve in areas along the Euphrates River Valley and along the border with Iraq to the south," the coalition's Public Affairs Office said.

"The base of the new force is essentially a realignment of approximately 15,000 members of the SDF to a new mission in the Border Security Force as their actions against ISIS draw to a close," it said.

"They will be providing border security through professionally securing checkpoints and conducting counter-IED operations," it said, adding that coalition and SDF forces were still engaging Islamic State pockets in Deir al-Zor province.

The United States has about 2,000 troops in Syria fighting Islamic State and has said it is prepared to stay in the country until it is certain Islamic State is defeated, that stabilisation efforts can be sustained and there is meaningful progress in U.N.-led peace talks on ending the conflict.

The Syrian government in Damascus has declared the United States an illegal occupation force and its SDF allies as "traitors". A top Syrian Kurdish politician told Reuters last week that the United States appeared in no hurry to leave Syria. (Additional reporting by Dominic Evans in Istanbul; Editing by Louise Heavens and David Goodman) </s> The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are to hand over a massive section of their territory west of Manbij to the Syrian Arab Army in order to create a buffer zone against the Turkish Army and Turkey-led forces in northern Syria. The map above is an initial estimate of the area which will be handed over to pro-government forces and not official.

In recent days the Euphrates Shield operations room (a coalition of Turkey-led armed Islamist groups, backed by the Turkish Armed Forces) has launched an offensive against the the SDF in order to capture the strategic crossroads city of Manbij.

The ferocity of the new Euphrates Shield offensive against the SDF has incited the Manbij Military Council (MMC) to consider a local military cooperation agreement with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) which includes pro-government access to SDF territories in northern Syria.

The MMC has released the following statement on this decision:

“To reach these objectives [the defense of Manbij] we have transferred, after reaching a new alliance with Russia, the defence of the line to the west of Manbij – where the villages between us and the gang groups [FSA, Ahrar al-Sham] affiliated to the Turkish army are – to Syrian state forces.”

The area being handed over to the Syrian Arab Army will serve just as much as a political buffer zone as a military one. The true nature of the Erdogan regime’s ambitions in Syria will soon be revealed to the world based on whether it chooses to attack government-held areas or not. By choosing to commit to an offensive against pro-government forces, the Erdogan regime will demonstrate that it pursues an imperialist agenda in Syria in direct violation of the territorial sovereignty of that country and against the wishes of its legitimate government.

Advertisements </s> BEIRUT/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria, Turkey and Russia responded vehemently on Monday to new U.S.-backed plans to set up a 30,000-strong “border force” inside Syria to protect territory held by Washington’s mainly Kurdish allies.

The Syrian government vowed to drive the U.S. presence from the country. Turkey, an increasingly estranged U.S. ally within NATO, accused Washington of setting up a “terror army” on the Turkish border, and said it would take steps to protect itself.

Russia, the main ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said the U.S. plans revealed a plot to partition Syria.

The United States has led an international coalition using air strikes and special forces troops to aid fighters on the ground battling Islamic State militants in Syria since 2014. It has about 2,000 troops on the ground in Syria.

The U.S. intervention has taken place mainly on the periphery of a nearly seven-year civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven more than 11 million from their homes.

Islamic State was effectively defeated last year, but Washington says its troops are prepared to stay to make sure the Islamist militant group cannot return, also citing the need for meaningful progress in U.N.-led peace talks.

The government of President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, has made great strides over the past two years in defeating a range of opponents and has restored control of nearly all of Syria’s main cities and towns. It considers the continued U.S. presence a threat to its ambition to restore full control over the entire country.

On Sunday, the U.S.-led coalition said it was working with its Syrian militia allies, the mainly Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to set up a new 30,000-strong border force. The force would operate along the borders with Turkey and Iraq, as well as within Syria along the Euphrates River, which separates most SDF territory from that held by the government.

The plan has infuriated Turkey, which considers the Kurdish forces supported by the United States to be a threat to its national security. It says the Syrian Kurdish PYD movement and the affiliated YPG militia, which forms the main backbone of the U.S.-backed SDF force in Syria, are allies of the PKK, a banned Kurdish group waging an insurgency in southern Turkey.

“The USA...setting up a would-be terror army under the guise of a ‘Syrian Border Security Force’ amounts to playing with fire,” Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Twitter.

“The support which the USA has given to the Syrian PYD/YPG arm of the PKK terror group until now, and the steps which it has announced are not befitting a friendship, alliance, model partnership or strategic partnership,” he said.

“Turkey will not refrain from taking the necessary measures and steps to protect our country and region’s security. To use our president’s expression: ‘We may come suddenly one night.'”

Syria’s main Kurdish groups have emerged as one of the few winners in the Syrian war and are working to entrench their autonomy over large parts of northern Syria. Washington opposes those autonomy plans, even as it has backed the SDF.

The Syrian government and the main Kurdish parties have mostly avoided conflict during the civil war, as both sides focused on fighting other groups. But Assad’s rhetoric toward the Kurds has turned increasingly hostile.

Damascus denounced the new border force as a “blatant assault” on its sovereignty, Syrian state media said. It said any Syrian who joined the force would be deemed “a traitor”.

“What the American administration has done comes in the context of its destructive policy in the region to fragment countries ... and impede any solutions to the crises,” state news agency SANA cited a foreign ministry source as saying.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said of the border force plan: ”The actions that we see now show that the United States does not want to maintain the territorial integrity of Syria.

“Literally yesterday, a new initiative was announced about how the U.S. wants to help the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces create some border security zones. Fundamentally, this means the breakup of a large territory along the border with Turkey and Iraq.”

The zone would be controlled by groups “under the leadership of the United States”, he added. “This is a very serious issue that raises concerns that a path toward the partition of Syria has been taken,” he said.

The coalition said the Border Security Force would operate under SDF command, and about 230 individuals were currently undergoing training in its inaugural class.

Its ethnic composition will reflect the areas in which the force serves. More Arabs would serve along the Euphrates River Valley and the Iraqi border, and more Kurds would serve in areas of northern Syria, the coalition said. </s> BEIRUT/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria, Turkey and Russia responded vehemently on Monday to new U.S.-backed plans to set up a 30,000-strong "border force" inside Syria to protect territory held by Washington's mainly Kurdish allies.

The Syrian government vowed to drive the U.S. presence from the country. Turkey, an increasingly estranged U.S. ally within NATO, accused Washington of setting up a "terror army" on the Turkish border, and said it would take steps to protect itself.

Russia, the main ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said the U.S. plans revealed a plot to partition Syria.

The United States has led an international coalition using air strikes and special forces troops to aid fighters on the ground battling Islamic State militants in Syria since 2014. It has about 2,000 troops on the ground in Syria.

The U.S. intervention has taken place mainly on the periphery of a nearly seven-year civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven more than 11 million from their homes.

Islamic State was effectively defeated last year, but Washington says its troops are prepared to stay to make sure the Islamist militant group cannot return, also citing the need for meaningful progress in U.N.-led peace talks.

The government of President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, has made great strides over the past two years in defeating a range of opponents and has restored control of nearly all of Syria's main cities and towns. It considers the continued U.S. presence a threat to its ambition to restore full control over the entire country.

On Sunday, the U.S.-led coalition said it was working with its Syrian militia allies, the mainly Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to set up a new 30,000-strong border force. The force would operate along the borders with Turkey and Iraq, as well as within Syria along the Euphrates River, which separates most SDF territory from that held by the government.

The plan has infuriated Turkey, which considers the Kurdish forces supported by the United States to be a threat to its national security. It says the Syrian Kurdish PYD movement and the affiliated YPG militia, which forms the main backbone of the U.S.-backed SDF force in Syria, are allies of the PKK, a banned Kurdish group waging an insurgency in southern Turkey.

"The USA...setting up a would-be terror army under the guise of a 'Syrian Border Security Force' amounts to playing with fire," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Twitter.

"The support which the USA has given to the Syrian PYD/YPG arm of the PKK terror group until now, and the steps which it has announced are not befitting a friendship, alliance, model partnership or strategic partnership," he said.

"Turkey will not refrain from taking the necessary measures and steps to protect our country and region's security. To use our president's expression: 'We may come suddenly one night.'"

Syria's main Kurdish groups have emerged as one of the few winners in the Syrian war and are working to entrench their autonomy over large parts of northern Syria. Washington opposes those autonomy plans, even as it has backed the SDF.

The Syrian government and the main Kurdish parties have mostly avoided conflict during the civil war, as both sides focused on fighting other groups. But Assad's rhetoric toward the Kurds has turned increasingly hostile.

Damascus denounced the new border force as a "blatant assault" on its sovereignty, Syrian state media said. It said any Syrian who joined the force would be deemed "a traitor".

"What the American administration has done comes in the context of its destructive policy in the region to fragment countries ... and impede any solutions to the crises," state news agency SANA cited a foreign ministry source as saying.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said of the border force plan: "The actions that we see now show that the United States does not want to maintain the territorial integrity of Syria.

"Literally yesterday, a new initiative was announced about how the U.S. wants to help the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces create some border security zones. Fundamentally, this means the breakup of a large territory along the border with Turkey and Iraq."

The zone would be controlled by groups "under the leadership of the United States", he added. "This is a very serious issue that raises concerns that a path toward the partition of Syria has been taken," he said.

The coalition said the Border Security Force would operate under SDF command, and about 230 individuals were currently undergoing training in its inaugural class.

Its ethnic composition will reflect the areas in which the force serves. More Arabs would serve along the Euphrates River Valley and the Iraqi border, and more Kurds would serve in areas of northern Syria, the coalition said. </s> The U.S.-led coalition is working with its Syrian militia allies to set up a new border force of 30,000 personnel, the coalition said on Sunday, a move that has added to Turkish anger over U.S. support for Kurdish-dominated forces in Syria.

A senior Turkish official told Reuters the U.S. training of the new “Border Security Force” (BSF) is the reason that the U.S. charge d’affaires was summoned in Ankara on Wednesday. The official did not elaborate.

The force, whose inaugural class is currently being trained, will be deployed at the borders of the area controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of militias in northern and eastern Syria dominated by the Kurdish YPG (People’s Protection Units).

The force will deploy along the border with Turkey to the north, the Iraqi border to the southeast, and along the Euphrates River Valley, which broadly acts as the dividing line separating the U.S.-backed SDF and Syrian government forces backed by Iran and Russia.

U.S. support for the SDF has put enormous strain on ties with NATO ally Turkey, which views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – a group that has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey.

Syria’s main Kurdish groups have emerged as one of the few winners of the Syrian war, and are working to entrench their autonomy over swathes of northern Syria.

Washington opposes those autonomy plans, even as it has backed the SDF, the main partner for the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Syria.

The coalition said the BSF would operate under SDF command and around 230 individuals were currently undergoing training in its inaugural class.

“Efforts are taken to ensure individuals serve in areas close to their homes. Therefore, the ethnic composition of the force will be relative to the areas in which they serve.

“More Kurds will serve in the areas in northern Syria. More Arabs will serve in areas along the Euphrates River Valley and along the border with Iraq to the south,” the coalition’s Public Affairs Office said.

“They will be providing border security through professionally securing checkpoints and conducting counter-IED (improvised explosive device) operations,” it said, adding that coalition and SDF forces were still engaging Islamic State pockets in Deir al-Zor province.

The United States has about 2,000 troops in Syria fighting Islamic State, and has said it is prepared to stay in the country until it is certain Islamic State is defeated, that stabilization efforts can be sustained, and there is meaningful progress in U.N.-led peace talks on ending the conflict.

The Syrian government in Damascus has declared the United States an illegal occupation force, and its SDF allies as “traitors.” A top Syrian Kurdish politician told Reuters last week the United States appeared in no hurry to leave Syria.
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) says they will counter Iraq’s mostly Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU) militants if the latter enters areas under SDF control, insisting that SDF will never accept the presence of Iran and SDF will never under any circumstances act as a bridge between PMU and the Syria's Assad regime.