Tag Archives: Kurdish led forces

Rockets hit Iraqi base housing U.S. forces, wounding two – U.S. coalition

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -At least 14 rockets hit an Iraqi air base hosting U.S. and other international forces on Wednesday, slightly wounding two people, the U.S.-led coalition said, as Kurdish-led forces in Syria said they thwarted a drone attack in an area where U.S. forces also operate.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks, part of a recent wave targeting U.S. troops or areas where they operate in Iraq and Syria, both countries where Iran-backed militias hold sway.

Iraqi militia groups aligned with Iran vowed to retaliate after last month’s U.S. strikes on the Iraqi-Syrian border killed four of their members.

Two people were slightly wounded in the rocket attack on the Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq, U.S. Army Colonel Wayne Marotto, spokesman for the coalition, said. He initially put the number of injuries at three. The rockets landed on the base and its perimeter, he tweeted.

In Syria, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said no damage was done by the drone attack on the Al Omar oil field in eastern Syria, an area bordering Iraq where U.S. forces came under rocket fire but escaped injury on June 28.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military about the Syria attack.

The United States told the U.N. Security Council last week that it targeted Iran-backed militia in Syria and Iraq with airstrikes to deter the militants and Tehran from conducting or supporting further attacks on U.S. personnel or facilities.

Iran has denied U.S. accusations it supports attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, while condemning U.S. airstrikes on Iranian-backed militants there.

Iraqi army officials said the pace of recent attacks against U.S. bases with rockets and explosive-laden drones was unprecedented.

Iraqi military sources said a rocket launcher fixed on the back of a truck was used in Wednesday’s attack on the Ain al-Asad air base and was found on nearby farmland set on fire.

On Tuesday, a drone attacked Erbil airport in northern Iraq, targeting a U.S. base on the airport grounds, Kurdish security sources said.

Three rockets also landed on Ain al-Asad on Monday without causing casualties.

The United States has been holding indirect talks with Iran aimed at bringing both nations back into compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which was abandoned by former President Donald Trump. No date has set for a next round of the talks, which adjourned on June 20.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad and Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Nick Macfie)

Pence announces ceasefire deal with Erdogan to end Turkey’s Syria offensive

Pence announces ceasefire deal with Erdogan to end Turkey’s Syria offensive
By Orhan Coskun and Humeyra Pamuk

ANKARA (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday he had reached a deal with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for a ceasefire in northern Syria to end an eight-day-old Turkish offensive against Kurdish-led forces.

Speaking after crisis talks with Erdogan in Ankara, Pence said that under the deal all military operations would be paused to allow a pullback of Kurdish YPG militia over a 120-hour period. The Turkish military operation would end once that withdrawal was complete, Pence told a news conference.

“Today the United States and Turkey have agreed to a ceasefire in Syria,” Pence told a news conference after more than four hours of talks at the presidential palace in Ankara.

“The Turkish side will pause Operation Peace Spring in order to allow for the withdrawal of YPG forces from the safe zone for 120 hours,” Pence said. “All military operations under Operation Peace Spring will be paused, and Operation Peace Spring will be halted entirely on completion of the withdrawal.”

Pence said U.S. forces in the region had already begun to facilitate a safe disengagement of YPG units.

The deal struck with Erdogan also provided for Turkey not to engage in military operations in the flashpoint Syrian border town of Kobani.

Pence said the United States and Turkey had committed to a peaceful resolution of Ankara’s demand for a “safe zone” in northern Syria near Turkey’s border, one of the objectives of the Turkish offensive.

Pence added that he had spoken to U.S. President Donald Trump after the talks and that Trump had expressed his gratitude for the ceasefire accord.

The deal was a major contribution to relations between NATO allies Turkey and the United States, which have become strained in recent months.

After Pence and Erdogan met at the presidential palace, talks between Turkish and U.S. delegations continued for over four hours – well past their expected duration.

Pence’s mission was to persuade Erdogan to halt the internationally condemned offensive, but Turkish officials had said before the meeting began that the action would continue regardless.

The Turkish assault has created a new humanitarian crisis in Syria with 200,000 civilians taking flight, a security alert over thousands of Islamic State fighters abandoned in Kurdish jails, and a political maelstrom at home for President Donald Trump.

Trump has been accused of abandoning Kurdish-led fighters, Washington’s main partners in the battle to dismantle Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate in Syria, by withdrawing troops from the border as Ankara launched its offensive on Oct. 9.

Trump had defended his move on Wednesday as “strategically brilliant”. He said he thought Pence and Erdogan would have a successful meeting, but warned of sanctions and tariffs that “will be devastating to Turkey’s economy” otherwise.

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Ellen Francis in Beirut and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Dominic Evans and Mark Heinrich)

U.S. pulls back troops in northeast Syria, opening way to Turkish attack

U.S. pulls back troops in northeast Syria, opening way to Turkish attack
By Daren Butler and Dominic Evans

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The United States began pulling troops back from the northeast Syria border on Monday, opening the way for a Turkish strike on Kurdish-led forces long allied to Washington, in a move U.S. President Donald Trump hailed as a bid to quit “endless wars”.

The major policy shift, which hands Turkey responsibility for thousands of jihadist prisoners, was denounced as a “stab in the back” by the Kurdish-led forces who have been Washington’s most capable partner in fighting Islamic State in Syria.

The forces, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), accused Washington of reneging on an ally, warning it would have a “great negative” impact on the war against the militants.

But Trump said in several Tweets it was too costly to keep supporting Kurdish-led forces fighting Islamic State, adding “it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars”.

“Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out,” he said.

In a sign of deepening humanitarian concern, a U.N. official reacted to the move by saying civilians must be spared in any Turkish operation in the northeast, adding the United Nations hoped that displacement and atrocities can be prevented.

“We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst,” Panos Moumtzis, U.N. regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, told reporters in Geneva.

A U.S. official said American troops had withdrawn from two observation posts on the border, at Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ain, and had told the commander of the SDF that the United States would not defend the SDF from an imminent Turkish offensive. U.S. troops elsewhere in Syria remain in position.

The pullback will initially be limited in scope to a patch of territory near the Turkish border where both countries had been working to establish a special security area, a U.S. official told Reuters on Monday.

The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not say whether the troops would leave the country or reposition elsewhere in Syria, where the United States has around 1,000 forces.

Another U.S. official said any unilateral Turkish military offensive in Syria was a “bad idea” and the United States “will not help it in any way, but will also not resist it”.

In a statement after Trump spoke with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, the White House also stressed that U.S. troops would not support the operation. “United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial “Caliphate”, will no longer be in the immediate area,” it said.

“WAR ZONE”

Erdogan said U.S. troops had started to withdraw from parts of northeast Syria after his call with Trump. He said he planned to visit Washington to meet Trump in the first half of November where they would discuss plans for the “safe zone”.

Turkey has long argued for the establishment of a 20-mile (32 km) “safe zone” along the border, under Turkish control, driving back the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia – which is the dominant force in the SDF alliance and which Ankara considers a terrorist organisation and a threat to its national security.

The United States helped the YPG defeat Islamic State militants in Syria, and had been seeking a joint ‘security mechanism’ with Turkey along the border to meet Turkey’s security needs without threatening the SDF.

The SDF accused Washington of betraying its ally.

“The American forces did not fulfil their commitments and withdrew their forces from the border areas with Turkey, and Turkey is now preparing for an invasion operation of northern and eastern Syria,” it said in a statement.

SDF official Mustafa Bali said U.S. forces were “leaving leaving the areas to turn into a war zone”.

“But the (U.S.) statement today was a surprise and we can say that it is a stab in the back for the SDF,” SDF spokesman Kino Gabriel said in an interview with al-Hadath TV.

A Turkish official later said the U.S. withdrawal could take one week, and Turkey would likely wait until it had been completed before launching an offensive.

ISLAMIC STATE CAPTIVES

The White House statement appeared to hand Turkey responsibility for Islamic State captives who are held in SDF facilities south of Turkey’s initially proposed safe zone.

“Turkey will now be responsible for all ISIS fighters in the area captured over the past two years,” it said. The statement made pointed reference to Washington’s European allies, saying many captured IS fighters came from those countries, which had resisted U.S. calls to take them back.

“The United States will not hold them for what could be many years and great cost to the United States taxpayer,” it said.

In the first Turkish comment following the statement, Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Turkey’s “safe zone” plan was within the framework of Syria’s territorial integrity.

“The safe zone has two aims: to secure our borders by clearing away terrorist elements and to achieve the return of refugees in a safe way,” Kalin wrote on Twitter.

However the Kremlin, the strongest foreign ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said Syria’s territorial integrity had to be preserved and Moscow continued to seek the withdrawal of all foreign forces illegally present in Syria.

Turkey says it wants to settle up to 2 million Syrian refugees in the zone. It hosts 3.6 million Syrians sheltering from their country’s more than eight-year-old conflict.

Turkey’s lira <TRYTOM=D3> was trading weaker at 5.7150 against the U.S. dollar, against a close of 5.70 on Friday. The Turkish presidency said that during the call between Erdogan and Trump, Erdogan had expressed his frustration with the failure of U.S. military and security officials to implement the agreement between the two countries on a safe zone.

The NATO allies agreed in August to establish a zone in northeast Syria along the Turkish border. Turkey says the United States moved too slowly to set up the zone. It has repeatedly warned of starting an offensive on its own into northeast Syria.

For graphic on where Kurds live, click on https://tmsnrt.rs/2OqcPVd

(Reporting by Can Sezer; Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun, Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay in Ankara and Tom Perry in Beirut, and Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by Alison Williams, Peter Cooney, Simon Cameron-Moore, William Maclean)

Erdogan says to extend Syria operation despite risk of U.S. confrontation

Kurds living in Cyprus shouts slogans during a demonstration against the Turkish offensive on Kurdish forces in northwest Syria, outside the American Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus January 24, 2018.

By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Tom Perry

ANKARA/BEIRUT (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Turkey would extend its military operation in Syria to the town of Manbij, a move that could potentially bring Turkish forces into confrontation with those of their NATO ally the United States.

Turkey’s air and ground “Operation Olive Branch” in the Afrin region of northern Syria is now in its fifth day, targeting Kurdish YPG fighters and opening a new front in Syria’s multi-sided civil war.

A push toward Manbij, in a separate Kurdish-held enclave some 100 km (60 miles) east of Afrin, could threaten U.S. plans to stabilize a swath of northeast Syria.

The United States has around 2,000 special forces troops in Syria, officially as part of an international U.S.-led coalition, assisting the Kurds in battle against Islamic State.

None of the Americans are known to be based in the Afrin area, but they are deployed in the Kurdish-held pocket that includes Manbij. Washington has angered Turkey by providing arms, training and air support to the Syrian Kurdish forces, which Turkey considers enemies.

“With the Olive Branch operation, we have once again thwarted the game of those sneaky forces whose interests in the region are different,” Erdogan said in a speech to provincial leaders in Ankara.

“Starting in Manbij, we will continue to thwart their game.”

Differences over Syria policy have already strained Turkey’s relations with Washington almost to a breaking point. For the United States, the YPG is a key ally against both Islamic State jihadists and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

A Turkish operation in Manbij would be fraught with risk due to the presence of the U.S. military personnel in and around the town. They were deployed there last March to deter Turkish and U.S.-backed rebels from attacking each other and have also carried out training missions in Manbij.

President Donald Trump plans to raise the U.S. concerns over the Turkish offensive in a telephone call with Erdogan expected on Wednesday, a senior U.S. official said.

In an interview with Reuters, Turkey’s government spokesman said he saw a small possibility that Turkish forces could come face-to-face with the U.S. troops in Manbij.

MOUNTING DEATH TOLL

U.S.-backed Syrian fighters in the Manbij area have deployed to frontlines to confront any Turkish assault and are in contact with the U.S.-led coalition over defending the town, their spokesman Sharfan Darwish said on Wednesday.

“We are in full readiness to respond to any attack.”

Rockets fired from Afrin struck the Turkish border town of Kilis, wounding 13 people in the area, the local governor said, the latest in what have been a series of such attacks since the start of the operation.

Dozens of combatants have been killed since Turkey launched the offensive, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war.

Turkish shelling and airstrikes in Afrin have killed 28 civilians, while two civilians were killed as a result of YPG shelling near Azaz, a town held by Turkish-backed opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, the monitoring group said.

Turkey said three of its soldiers had been killed. Observatory head Rami Abdulrahman said 48 Turkey-backed Syrian fighters with Free Syrian Army groups had been killed and that the death toll among the Kurdish YPG so far stood at 42.

The Turkish military said it had killed at least 287 Kurdish fighters and Islamic State militants in the offensive. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) umbrella group led by the Kurdish YPG said there was no Islamic State presence in Afrin and Turkey had exaggerated the number of dead.

SECURITY LINE

Communication between the United States and Turkey has continued over Syria, despite the countries’ differences.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who, he said, had suggested the formation of a “30 km security line” inside Syria, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Turkey has previously sought such buffer zones in parts of Syria near its southern border.

A senior U.S. official said that as of Tuesday the Turks had not been ready to engage in detail on such a proposal.

Bad weather, including heavy rain, has hampered Turkey’s offensive. Heavy clouds have hindered air support, limiting advances, and Kurdish militia have retaken some territory.

Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters have been trying to take the summit of Bursaya Hill, overlooking the eastern approach to Afrin town.

“Turkey has not been able yet to shore up its control over any of the villages it has advanced on,” said the Observatory’s Abdulrahman. He attributed this to fierce resistance from YPG fighters who are from Afrin, and the hilly terrain of the area.

Afrin is separated from Manbij and the rest of the territory held by the Kurdish-led forces by a strip of land held by Assad’s government forces.

In 2016, the Kurdish-led SDF pushed Islamic State fighters out of Manbij. Erdogan has accused the United States of reneging on a promise to ensure that Kurdish fighters would return the town to Arab control.

U.S., British and German volunteers who fought against Islamic State alongside Kurdish-led forces in Syria are also now in the Afrin area to help confront Turkey, the SDF said.

U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has said Turkey’s offensive is distracting from efforts to defeat Islamic State.

The United States has hoped to use the YPG’s control of territory to give it the diplomatic muscle it needs to revive U.N.-led talks in Geneva on a deal that would end Syria’s civil war and eventually lead to Assad’s removal.

(Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun, Ercan Gurses Ece Toksabay and Dominic Evans in Ankara; Daren Butler, Ezgi Erkoyun and Ali Kucukgocmen in Istanbul; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Gareth Jones and Peter Graff)