BALADI NEWS
The United States is preparing to send around 150 soldiers to northeastern Syria to conduct joint patrols with Turkish troops, a Turkish newspaper quoted a US newspaper's report.
The New York Times (NYT) was the first to report the Pentagon's plans, which would be another step by Washington to ramp up partnership with Turkey over its reiterated concerns about ongoing U.S. support to People's Protection Units (YPG), the PKK terror group's Syrian affiliate.
Ankara has long objected to U.S. support for the YPG, a group that terrorizes locals and poses a threat to Turkey. The PKK has killed over 40,000 people in Turkey -- including women, children and infant -- in its decades-long terror campaign.
Turkey-U.S. cooperation in Syria has recently intensified after the two countries agreed on Aug. 7 to establish a safe zone east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria.
The safe zone agreement envisages setting up necessary security measures to address Turkey's security concerns, including clearing the zone of YPG terrorists.
It also includes measures to create a safe and stable living space for Syrian refugees returning from Turkey. Turkish officials have frequently said another refugee wave was quite possible due to the continuous regime attacks, particularly in northwestern Syria's Idlib.
The U.S has nearly 1,000 troops in Syria, mostly partnering with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the YPG-led group with which it partnered purportedly in its fight against Daesh.
Source: Daily Sabah.