For the past four days, Turkish troops and allied Arab Islamist fighters have been battling their way into Syria’s Afrin canton, which is defended by the American-backed Kurdish YPG militia. And this despite providing the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who gifted Trump his first military victory – the fall of the Islamic State capital, Raqa. More than 2,000 US special forces backed by air power work with the Kurdish YPG, under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) east of the Euphrates to fight the Islamic State jihadist group. “Now Turkish planes are bombarding Afrin, killing women and children on the pretext that we’re separatists, but we’re part of Syria! Despite working with Russia’s “Astana process” to retain influence in Syria, Turkey has clashed with Russia over the role of the Kurds – which Moscow hoped to win over to Assad’s fold.

Source: Dhaka Tribune January 24, 2018 01:30 UTC