US vehicles patrol near the village of Yalanli, on the western outskirts of the northern Syrian city of Manbij CREDIT: DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The administration of US President Donald Trump has approved providing heavier weapons to Kurdish forces operating in Syria, AFP reported on May 9, citing a US official.
BREAKING: US official says Trump administration approves providing heavier weapons to Syria’s Kurds, despite Turkish objections.
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 9, 2017
The mainstream media and US officials have repeatedly argued that the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are a “multi-ethnic and multi-religious alliance” fighting against ISIS. However, since the formation of the SDF, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) have remained the core of the organization. The US has tried to build some major “Arab faction” among the SDF, but this effort has succeed only partly.
Thus, if Washington wants to storm Raqqah somewhen, it needs to arm YPG and YPJ forces with heavy weapons on an official level or to deploy more US troops in Syria. Meanwhile, Ankara argues that YPG and YPJ are terrorist groups.
