US-Backed Militias Reinvigorate Positions in Northeastern Syria after Turkish Threats

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) forwarded more forces and equipment to Northern Raqqa on Saturday following recent tensions with the Turkish troops at the borderline and threatening remarks by Ankara President Rajab Tayyip Erdogan.

The Arabic-language 21 news website reported that the SDF dispatched a long convoy, including tens of vehicles carrying heavy weapons, to Tal Abyadh region in Northern Raqqa.

It further said that the SDF has increased the number of its gunmen in contact lines from the town of Ra’as al-Ein in Western Hasaka to the town of Tal Abyadh in Northern Raqqa.

The news website further reminded President Erdogan’s words that his country is planning to purge the Kurdish militias from regions on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River in Syria.

Erdogan, meantime, said on Friday that the US did not adhere to its commitments over scheduled withdrawal of the Kurds from the town of Manbij.

Last week, the SDF sent a convoy of fresh forces and military hardware to its positions in the town of Tal Abyadh in Northern Raqqa at the border with Turkey to reinvigorate its defense and combat capabilities to counter any possible threat by the Turkish army.

Field sources said that the SDF’s move came after the Turkish army enhanced its presence at the border and carried out sporadic attacks on SDF’s strongholds in Northern Raqqa.

In the meantime, the US army and the SDF dispatched a convoy of 19 military and armored vehicles from a US-run base near the town of Ein Issa in Northern Raqqa to Tabaqa military airport in Western Raqqa.

FARS