“We welcome the entry of the Syrian Arab Army because the opposition are thieves. And Erdogan wants to occupy the region,” said an Arab resident of the city.
“Syria’s Democratic Forces (SDF) liberated the area in a short time. It ran the city of Manbij well and provided services. But we prefer the Syrian Arab Army enters. The situation is stable and the Syrian forces have not yet entered, but the Free Syrian Army are thieves and no one wants them to enter,” he said.
The city is still under the control of the local Manbij Military Council and US and French troops are at their positions.
The Syrian army announced earlier in the day that their forces had entered Manbij on the invitation of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
The international coalition later, however, said the regime forces had not yet entered the city.
Reporting from Manbij, Rudaw’s Vivien Fatah said the government troops are a dozen kilometres outside of the city.
Also gathering their troops are Turkish-backed Syrian militias who say they’re ready to launch military operations on the city.
“We are well prepared to enter Manbij city and to take control over it,” said Ziyad Haji Ubed, a commander within the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army.
“We have prepared 15,000 soldiers to enter Manbij. 25,000 soldiers are ready to enter Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) and Sari Kani (Ras al-Ayn),” he added.
“We didn’t come to invade Manbij. We came here to liberate Manbij and to let the people to return to their hometowns.”
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