Earlier this month, Col. John Dorrian, spokesperson for the global anti-ISIS coalition, tweeted that US forces were deployed to the Manbij area as a “deliberate” act to “deter aggression” and reassure coalition partners as Turkish-backed forces advanced on Manbij and Turkish leaders spoke of a military offensive to oust Kurdish forces Ankara alleges control the northern Syrian city.
"Our forces have been present there for some time,” Dorrian told Rudaw TV on Monday, explaining the US presence on the ground around Manbij.
“They've had a visible presence more recently, and the purpose of their presence right now is to make sure there is no security incident and to make sure there is no persistent [the Kurdish force] YPG presence in the city, or anything that would threaten Turkey because we are also committed to Turkey's security. And what we've found so far is that there is exactly zero threat to Turkey's security in Manbij.”
Turkey launched its military operation, Euphrates Shield, after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) liberated Manbij from ISIS control. Ankara’s stated aim was to clear the Turkey-Syria border area of terrorists – naming both ISIS and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), one of the dominant forces fighting under the SDF flag. Turkish towns on the border with Syria came under repeated attack from cross-border ISIS fire.
Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization with ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and strongly objects to the coalition’s backing of the YPG and the SDF in the fight against ISIS in northern Syria.
The US reportedly promised Turkey that the YPG would leave Manbij after ISIS was defeated and security in the city was reestablished. The YPG announced last November that they had withdrawn their forces from Manbij and were focusing on the offensive for Raqqa, but Ankara claims that the YPG has in fact not left the city.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that his forces would march on Manbij after completing operations against ISIS in al-Bab, to force the YPG east of the Euphrates River.
The Department of State recently hailed the YPG’s success on the battlefield against ISIS and reiterated their support for the Kurdish armed group. “We’re obviously mindful of Turkey’s concerns with respect to the YPG and we respectfully disagree with them linking the YPG with the PKK,” acting spokesperson for the department, Mark Toner, told reporters last week.
Manbij is now under the control of the locally formed Manbij Military Council (MMC). The MMC has also begun coordinating with Moscow and Damascus, seeking their assistance to counter Turkey’s threats.
The MMC struck a deal with Russia to hand control of territory that bordered with the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) over to Damascus. The hand over was completed last week amid clashes between MMC forces and the FSA.
Russian troops have also been spotted in the Manbij area. On Monday, Arab 24 published video of Russian forces in a base in the village of Jib Al-Hamra west of Manbij. In the video, both Russian and Syrian troops could be seen in the base.
A Russian flag is visible on the dash of the truck under an image of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in video published by Arab 24 filmed near Manbij. Photo: Arab 24 video
Photographs shared on social media purport to show Russian soldiers and MMC soldiers exchanging their flag patches, with the Russians proudly wearing the blue patch of the Manbij forces.
While the battlefield is complex with multiple opposing forces on the ground, Dorrian said the US is de-conflicting with the Russians but not coordinating. “It’s de-confliction to make sure there’s no battlefield incident.”
Top generals from the US, Russia, and Turkey met in Antalya last week to discuss de-confliction in the “crowded” battlespaces in northern Syria, the US Department of Defense reported.
No final decision for the offensive to retake Raqqa has been made yet, Dorrian confirmed. The coalition is still discussing the matter with Turkey at a diplomatic level, but indications are that the SDF, which has proven its capabilities as it isolates the city, will be the primary force to carry out an assault on ISIS in the Raqqa.
"We've worked very closely with the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian Arab Coalition. This is an organization that has been very successful in defeating Daesh in many places in northern Syria. They've liberated 6,400 square-kilometers of territory so far to isolate Raqqa,” Dorrian explained.
The final force that enters Raqqa will likely include Kurds, despite Turkish objections.
“We, as a fundamental principle of our campaign, we want the force that liberates the city to reflect the same demographic makeup of the city. So we know it'll be primarily Syrian Arabs, but there are also Kurds in Raqqa, and other elements, so we are going to work with those people as well,” Dorrian said.
