"The 400 figure is certainly insufficient for the coalition to fulfill its mission here. We told them so. I believe the Pentagon shares our view on this," Kobane said in an interview with Al Monitor published on Saturday. "They need to increase the numbers..."
US President Donald Trump announced in December all 2,000 US forces would withdraw from Syria, but he backed away from that last month agreeing to keep 400 troops.
The SDF declared the ‘total elimination’ of the ISIS caliphate on March 23 and Trump a few days before, but analysts have predicted the extremist group will revert to suicide and hit-and-run attacks.
Trump has encouraged regional and international actors in the coalition to play a larger role in northeast Syria; however, those efforts have so far been in vain.
"That is true," said Kobane.
He reiterated that a US pullout will be premature.
"Yes, sustaining our relationship with the Americans is to our benefit and that of the people [of Syria]," he said.
Kobane acknowledged in the interview that under former US Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk, the SDF was told to deal with Damascus. But following McGurk's resignation in December and being replaced by James Jeffries, they are told not to deal with the regime.
"Indeed, that is their current policy. That’s what American diplomats tell us," he said. "They do not view talks with the regime as a priority and want us to not rush."
Throughout the interview, Kobane reiterated that they do not seek conflict with neighboring Turkey.
"But we are ultimately part of Syria. We do not wish to separate from Syria. If there is to be a lasting solution for this region it needs to be with Damascus. Negotiations with the regime are inevitable. And these need to happen," he said.
The SDF would ultimately like to retake the Rojava Canton of Afrin in northwest Syria, but that seems increasingly impossible with a US force drawdown to the east.
"Turkey failed to get the green light from anybody to intervene here [in Manbij] so far and will fail to do so in the future. But as I told you earlier, we are not in favor of any war with Turkey," added Kobane.
The SDF say they have lost 11,000 of its units in the conflict in Syria.
"After eight years of war in Syria, we want peace," he said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to "definitely" solve the Syria issue after Turkey holds local elections on March 31.
"We will definitely solve Syria issue on the field, if possible, and not on the table, as the first work after elections," Erdogan said at an election rally in Istanbul on Saturday, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.
Erdogan's comments could be seen as campaign rhetoric; although, they are not without precedent.
“We have taught the necessary lesson to those who tried to do that and we will do the same to them in the future,” he added, speaking of the SDF's presence on their southern border.
