The United States is working with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key partner in the ongoing fight against ISIS, as the group faces attacks from Turkey-backed fighters, according to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The US was closely monitoring the “very dynamic” situation in Syria, Austin told reporters in Japan on Wednesday.
An SDF commander said on Tuesday that troops had agreed to withdraw from the Kurdish-controlled city of Manbij in northern Syria, near the border with Turkey, after reaching a ceasefire agreement through US mediation. However, SDF fighters continued their “resistance” in the city, he added.
The commander’s remarks came after the director of a critical dam near Manbij accused Turkey of an attack on the facility that cut power and raised concerns about its potential collapse. The SDF also claimed that drones launched by the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) attacked a Kurdish village in Syria, killing at least two civilians including a child.
CNN is attempting to reach the Turkish government for comment.
Meanwhile, in eastern Syria, the newly formed rebel coalition, Military Operations Command, claimed it had seized the city of Deir Ezzor from the SDF – which the SDF disputed, saying its forces had only withdrawn from the western banks of the Euphrates River.
More context: Numerous armed groups operate and control territory in Syria, including the SDF, FSA, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), which incorporates dozens of factions with various ideologies.
The SDF is largely made up of Kurdish fighters from a group known as the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), considered a terrorist organization by Turkey.
Kurdish forces occupy the northeast of the country, having achieved hard-won autonomy during a decade of civil war. They fear that autonomy could now be under threat from the Syrian opposition insurgents.