Members of Ahl al-Dar – a part of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) – launched an attack on YPG positions in Tal al-Madiq village in the northeastern Aleppo countryside.
According to opposition sources, the FSA managed to capture some of the buildings inside Tal the village. The FSA also captured the Mukhtar Farms near Tal al-Madiq. The FSA claimed that 18 YPG fighters were killed during the attack.
N. #Aleppo: footage showing clashes yesterday btwn #FSA and #SDF/#YPG on Tell Mudiq front. https://t.co/OEcQGN4jIX pic.twitter.com/eCd6MHjC30
— Qalaat Al Mudiq (@QalaatAlMudiq) 18 June 2017
Meanwhile, the Sultan Murad militant group, also backed by Turkey, attacked YPG positions in Daghlibash village. However, YPG fighters repelled the attack.
#Sultan_Murat_Tümeni:kuvvetlerimiz ve terör örgütü YPG arasında DağlıBaş köyü civarında şidetli çatışmalar yaşanıyor.pic.twitter.com/v1G2czFR4e
— Sultan Murat Tümeni (@STumeni) 18 June 2017
According to Kurdish sources, the Turkish Army shelled YPG positions in Tal Rifa’t town in the northern Aleppo countryside supporting the FSA attack.
Meanwhile, clashes continued between the joint forces of the FSA and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and YPG forces in the vicinity of Darat Azza. Militants attacked YPG positions in Jabal Sim’an Citadel, they were unable to make gains.
A tour through Darat Izza with Ahrar al-Sham fighters showing wrecked YPG trucks after repelling their assault. pic.twitter.com/6GGn3u05MY
— Henry Leconte (@HernyTheOne) 17 June 2017
According to some Syrian experts, Turkey has pushed the FSA and other militant groups, including HTS, to attack Kurdish militias in the Afrin area of northern Aleppo.
Lets see what SDF/YPG will do now. SAA should sit and watch
That’s probably what they we’re doing already. They were probably going, so you want to get snotty with us, have fun dealing with the Turks and their headchoppers without us. I wouldn’t be surprised if Damascus told Ankara to have some fun with the Kurds.
There are consequences to certain actions and the Kurds seem to have forgotten this, thinking themselves all high and mighty being America’s new favorite minions.
Kurds, bet on the wrong horse
I understand that the SAA and Russian monitors on the Kurdish borders in the North are being delivered large quantities of Popcorn and lemonade to watch the Kurd v FSA shooting competitions :)
Terrorist attacks terrorist. Good job, hope they eliminate each other. This is SYRIA!
The afrin Kurds are native Syrian Kurds. The ypg are mostly Kurdish mercenaries hired from Iraq, and include Kurds from Turkey and even Iran who have pledged allegiance to the money from America – and now Saudi Arabia.
It is disappointing to see turkey supporting attacks on afrin instead of kobane. The SAA should no longer protect the YPG in Manbij. If the YPG is at war with SAA, let turkey attack Manbij.
The new reality for the kurds. Either they declare their strong commitment for Syria and for a unified Syrian state and they kick out the US troops, or they will get punished and punished and punished. Maybe they like it.
Maybe Turkey should govern Syria. Assad has shown he cannot lead. Erdogan is making steady progress, working with a militia rebel force to remove treasonous pro-American YPG group, and has done more for Syria in the short time since it changed sides than Assad and the SAA have done in six years. Here he is acting timid around SDF, weakly protesting he didn’t attack SDF, while his army get pounded by American planes. The US has him on the defensive; he can’t even assert his right to put down the SDF rebellion. No wonder the Americans walk around Syria as if they own it.
What kind of leader is he that he can’t even take up arms against an anti-government militia force like the SDF? What did he do during the six years? I have no idea. If he can’t take back Syria, he should hand it over to a foreign power like Turkey who has shown they will not tolerate any rebels operating around them, in neighboring territory. The chinless wonder shows he has no idea how to lead his people and use the resources available to him. Of course he should have concentrated on taking back the northern region early in the war. The northern part is the place with all the oil fields. Taking over this region would have helped him finance the war.
For six years, Americans didn’t put boots on the ground. That time is adequate to clear Syria of the SDF, FSA and even ISIS. Now Americans are embedded with the SDF, the task is going to be an uphill battle. If he confronts SDF now, his troops will face a risky situation.
He has boxed himself into a corner. If he does not act and start attacking SDF, he will lose the land that SDF take over. Syria will be permanently partitioned. We can already see the way Syria is being divided up now.
On the other hand, if he attacks SDF, he will have to face American military power.
The time will have to be that he confronts SDF. Otherwise, he will have a divided Syria. He will lose maybe 60, 70% of it.
I suggest he discuss this with Putin. He should be honest and tell him what he wants to do. If he wants to get all of Syria back, he should say so, and ask whether Putin is willing to commit to helping him, even if it means clashing with the USA.
If Putin says yes, great. Let the games begin. They should sit down and work out a battle plan. Iran and other allies should be included in the plan. However, the SAA should be at the frontlines.
However, all the parties involved, including Russia must fight to win. There must not be any “I’ll only act if you cross this red line” or “I’m only interested in putting down ISIS”.
It must be all-out to win. Win or die. If it’s not this, then they should declare a truce with the US and start bargaining with the US which parts Assad keeps and which parts the USA will keep.
If they are not going to go all out to win, they will lose, and people will die for no reason. The outcome will be the same as if Assad negotiates with the US to carve up Syria, but with more people dying. The SAA troops and PMU and Hezbollah and IRG will all be sacrificed for nothing.
So they have to play it to win.
If Putin says no, he’s only going to limit his involvement to keeping law and order and managing the situation so that it’s easier for Assad to remove ISIS, as Russia is only interested in attacking ISIS, then Assad has a big problem on his hands. He won’t be able to count on Russia when push comes to shove.
If Syria is in this without Russia’s full backing, he can still regain Syria, but it will be hell on earth for the troops. Lots of sacrifices. Lots of dead soldiers. The problem with Assad is that he doesn’t inspire loyalty. If soldiers are going to risk their lives, they need a good reason to do so. Confronting the USA is not a police action of simply expelling intruders; it’s war. Policing is not hard, and not that dangerous. War is terrible. You’re often faced with a much stronger enemy. Assad has to find a way to convince the troops that fighting Americans is worth it.