Over 100 fighters have been killed in clashes between Turkey-backed groups and Kurdish forces in northern Syria over the past two days, according to the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The French news agency AFP reported this on Sunday.
The SOHR stated that since Friday evening, fighting around several villages near the Syrian city of Manbij has claimed the lives of 101 people. Among the dead are 85 members of Turkey-backed groups and 16 fighters from the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
In a statement, the SDF claimed to have repelled all attacks carried out by Turkey’s proxy forces using Turkish drones and airstrikes. On December 8, just 11 days after Islamist rebels launched an operation on November 27, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fell from power.
Following Assad’s fall, Turkey-backed groups resumed clashes with the SDF in northern Syria. The Turkey-backed factions seized control of the cities of Manbij and Tal Rifaat in the northern Aleppo province from the SDF. Since then, nearly daily clashes have occurred in northern Syria, causing heavy casualties on both sides.
The Observatory’s head, Rami Abdel Rahman, stated that the Turkey-backed groups are planning to capture the towns of Kobani and Tabqa before moving toward Raqqa. The SDF controls vast areas of northeastern Syria and parts of the eastern Deir ez-Zor province. These regions were vacated by government forces in the early stages of the Syrian civil war in 2011, after which the Kurds established an autonomous administration there.
The U.S.-backed SDF currently controls most of the region, including Raqqa, after seizing territory from the Islamic State (IS) militant group. Ankara considers the SDF an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging a decades-long insurgency in southeastern Turkey. The Turkish government has designated the PKK as a terrorist organization.
Citing links to PKK fighters, Turkey’s military frequently targets Kurdish forces in Syria and neighboring Iraq.
Earlier, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the new leader of Syria’s de facto government and head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), stated that the SDF would be integrated into the country’s future national army. Last month, HTS led the coalition of rebel groups that overthrew Assad.