Yahoo News Syrian regime troops enter Kurdish territory after deal aimed at pushing back Turkish offensive as US signals full withdrawal
Syrian government forces have entered several towns in the Kurdish-held areas of northern Syria for the first time in five years, as they advance on Turkish forces in the country, after striking a deal with the Kurds to halt Ankara’s offensive.
According to Syria’s state news agency, SANA, regime troops moved into Kurdish-held Tabqa town in Raqqa province, once home to the capital of the Isis caliphate.
SANA added that they would also assume control of an airbase in the town, which lies just over 100km south of the border with Turkey, and a string of nearby villages.
Government forces had also entered the northern town of Tal Tamr, some 150km to the east and along a key main highway that crosses northeastern Syria, state media earlier reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, meanwhile, said regime troops have moved into Ain Essa, a town that lies approximately between the two and is home to a sprawling displacement camp holding families affiliated with Isis.
The game-changing deal between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the regime was struck late Sunday as the United States, once the SDF's key ally in the battle against Isis, announced it was heading towards a full military withdrawal from Syria, triggering cries of betrayal.
Washington signalled Sunday it would pull out all remaining 1,000 troops within the coming days.
Late Sunday the Kurdish-led authority said it was forced to look for ways to protect the region, calling the deal with Assad a “temporary” emergency military agreement.
It will allow government forces to enter border areas from the Syrian-Kurdish held cities of Manbij to Derik in the northeast: a 850km stretch of land.
“The understanding on the protection of the border between the SDF and the Syrian army is purely military and does not address the status of self-administration,” a statement read.
However, the deal awards President Assad a significant swath of land that the regime has not had control over for five years. It could also see direct confrontations between Turkish forces and Syrian regime soldiers.
Russia, which brokered the agreement and is a key military ally of the Syrian regime, warned all sides on Monday to avoid actions that could escalate the situation and damage the political process.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signalled Turkish troops and their Syrian opposition allies are ready to launch an assault on Manbij.
He added that Turkey's aim would be to return the city to Arab populations whom he said were its rightful owners.
At least 60 civilians, including 21 children have been killed and 130,000 people have been displaced since Turkey launched a cross border incursion on Wednesday.
According to the SOHR, Turkish forces and its Syrian rebel allies now control a 220km-long stretch along the border and are still pounding north-east Syria from the air and the ground.
Mr Erdogan has said the operation aims to neutralise the Kurdish YPG militia, the main element of the SDF, which was the key US partner in dismantling the jihadist “caliphate” set up by Isis militants in Syria.
Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist group because of its links to guerrillas waging an insurgency in southeast Turkey.
Turkey's incursion has been met with searing international condemnation, as states fear it could cause a humanitarian catastrophe, the mass displacement of civilians and the resurgence of Isis.
Germany, France and the Netherlands have already halted arms sales to Ankara over the assault.
On Monday France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for a European Union-wide arms embargo.
The US, meanwhile, is expected to push ahead proposed sanctions as early as this week.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Trump had authorised "very powerful" sanctions targeting Turkey.
On Sunday, Mr Trump said he was working on them with members of Congress.
But critics have also accused Mr Trump of "greenlighting" Turkey's offensive when he announced a week ago that the US would pull back troops from Syria and not hinder an imminent Turkish offensive.
President Trump has since repeatedly denied he approved the offensive and has batted off global criticism he abandoned his Kurdish allies, maintaining he wants to bring US troops home and to “end the endless wars”.
On Sunday Defence Secretary Mark Esper said that President Trump had directed the 1,000 US troops in northern Syria to begin pulling out "as safely and quickly as possible."
“We have American forces likely caught between two opposing advancing armies and it's a very untenable situation," Esper said.
There are fears that an escalation in the conflict could allow Isis to regroup.
The SDF is currently holding some 12,000 captured Isis fighters, of whom around 1,000 are from European countries.
They are also holding tens of thousands of family members.
On Sunday, nearly 800 people broke out of a displacement camp in Ain Essia holding tens of thousands of people affiliated with Isis.
There are fears about some 70,000 people, including foreigners, held in al-Hol camp further east, after detainees staged uprisings over the weekend.
it is not clear whether Syrian government troops will take over the camps.
Mr Trump tweeted on Sunday night that Europe had to take back its nationals:
"The US has the worst of the ISIS prisoners. Turkey and the Kurds must not let them escape," he wrote. "Europe should have taken them back after numerous requests. They should do it now. They will never come to, or be allowed in, the United States!"
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