Baladi News
Syrian regime sent more troops towards the city of Manbij, in coordination with the YPG militia which controls the city, as the Turkish backed Syrian rebels said they were preparing to attack it.
These reinforcements are part of the wider buildup of forces in the area.
The deployment was coordinated with the US-backed militia in Manbij, the spokesman of the Manbij Military Council said.
“The battle will soon start,” Maj. Youssef Hamoud, spokesman for the National Army, the main Turkish-backed rebel force in the area, told Reuters.
“What we see on the front now is reinforcements to all forces to reach full preparedness for the battle,” he added.
Manbij was seized in 2016 from ISIS by the SDF ally YPG, which control roughly a quarter of Syria. Its capture was a milestone in the US-backed campaign against ISIS.
In June the United States and Turkey reached an agreement that would see the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia ousted from the town, but Turkey says its implementation has been delayed. In November Turkish and US troops began joint patrols in the region.
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a military operation will start as soon as possible east of Euphrates to eliminate the YPG's presence in the area.
Source: Turkish Minute.