The Turkish army, with the support of the Syrian armed opposition, is getting ready to start offensive against Kurdish positions in four regions of northern Syria. This was announced on Friday by the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, quoted by TASS.
If a new military operation begins, Turkish troops and opposition fighters will attack Kurdish People’s Self-Defense Forces (SNA) fighters in the front sector in Tel Tamera, 40km from the center of Haseke province.
As the newspaper notes, Turkish drones have been constantly patrolling the skies over the area in recent days and from time to time strike at Kurdish war machines and their firing points.
Earlier in Tel Tamar, which is populated mainly by Assyrian Christians, there were regular clashes between SNA units and opposition fighters.
Another point of contact between the Kurds and the pro-Turkish formations is the town of Ain Isa and its environs in the northern part of the province of Raqqa. The area is important for the SNA because of it cross lines to deliver Kurdish fighters to Deir ez-Zor province. In the event that it is transferred to the control of Turkish troops and their allies, economic and social ties between the western and eastern regions of Syria, which are in the hands of the Kurds, will be disrupted.
According to the commander of the Democratic Syrian Forces (UDF, their backbone is part of the SNS) Mazlum Abadi, the Kurds are able to deploy 35,000 fighters in these two sectors on the front. The total number of their fighters is 110 thousand.
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The third zone where a battle between the countries could begin is the town of Kobani (Ain al-Arab) on the east bank of the Euphrates and its environs. In this city Kurdish fighters win first victory against Islamic State terrorist group in 2015. In 2016, they liberated neighboring Manbij, 40 km from Aleppo, the northern capital of Syria, from terrorists.
According to Kurdish expert Kamal Sheikho, it is in these two areas that the SNA units will put up the fiercest resistance. It is expected the fourth hotspot to be the city of Tel Rifaat and the surrounding villages, where Kurdish forces moved after losing their fortress in Afrin.
On On October 26th, the Turkish parliament approved the government’s request for extension by two years of the powers of the armed forces to conduct operations in Syria and Iraq. In accordance with the issued mandate the Turkish army can conduct military operations outside the country.
On October 27 Turkish troops send convoys of armored vehicles, weapons, ammunition and logistical equipment in northern and northeastern Syria. According to Kurdish sources, the transfer of military supplies shows that Ankara is preparing for an operation to expand the security zone, which was established in 2017 in the triangle between the border towns of Jerablus-Al-Bab-Azaz.
In 2018 as part of operation “Olive branch“against parts of the SNA, Turkish troops occupied the Afrin region, 65 km from Aleppo.
Turkey also conducted a military operation, Source of Peace“in northeastern Syria in October 2019 creating a 30-kilometer security zone along its border in Hasek and Raqqa.
