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Russian military police drive through Manbij, northern Syria. Photo: AFP video
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Russian military police were out patrolling the streets of Manbij in northern Syria on Wednesday to prevent possible attacks by Turkish-backed Syrian proxy forces. The Russian presence comes just days after the US withdrew from the city.
Turkey’s offensive in northern Syria, dubbed Operation Peace Spring, aims to establish a ‘safe zone’ in which up to three million Syrian refugees living in Turkey can be resettled. The offensive is being carried out with the assistance of Syrian proxy groups.
In a video published by AFP on Wednesday, Russian military police vehicles can be seen patrolling inside Manbij. It follows two days of fighting in the city’s hinterlands between Turkish-backed Syrian proxy groups and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), according to SDF-affiliated Hawar news.
Rudaw’s reporters in northern Syria reported on Monday that clashes erupted in the Manbij countryside along the Sajur River between the SDF alongside the Russian-backed Syrian Arab Army and Turkish-backed groups.
The Turkish defense ministry announced on Tuesday in a tweet that two Turkish soldiers were killed in Manbij during clashes with the SDF.
Hawar news meanwhile reported on Monday that two Syrian Arab Army soldiers have been killed in clashes with the Turkish-backed Syrian proxy groups northeast of Manbij city.
The US is widely seen to have ceded influence in Syria to the Russian-backed regime in Damascus.
“Syria’s friendly with the Kurds. The Kurds are very well-protected. Plus, they know how to fight. And, by the way, they’re no angels,” Trump told reporters at the White House while meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday.
If Russia wanted to get involved with Syria, “that’s really up to them. It’s not our border. We shouldn’t be losing lives over it,” Trump added.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Moscow could mediate between the Syrian regime and Turkey.
The SDF announced early on Monday it had reached an agreement with Damascus to pave the way for the Syrian Arab Army to enter Kurdish towns on Syria’s northern border with Turkey in order to prevent Turkish attacks.
Syrian state media agency SANA published a video on Monday showing the Syrian Arab Army entering Manbij where they were welcomed by locals waving Syrian national flags and chanting: “In spirit by blood we redeem you Assad.”
The agreement between the SDF and the Syrian Arab Army came after US President Donald Trump ordered US troops to withdraw from the border area to avoid getting caught up in clashes.
Manbij is the westernmost territory controlled by groups affiliated with the Kurdish-led SDF. Reportedly used by Islamic State (ISIS) to transport fighters into Syria, the city was liberated by the SDF in 2016.
Turkey has long said it intends to oust Kurdish groups from the area.
At least 300,000 civilians have been displaced and dozens killed since the Turkish offensive began on October 7.
According to the latest figures by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), at least 70 civilians have been killed.
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