ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Friday said their forces killed nine militiamen in clashes near Manbij, northern Syria on Thursday.
“Our forces eliminated nine Turkish occupation mercenaries and injured eleven others during legitimate response operations targeted [at] the Turkish occupation bases in the village of Al-Hoshriya in the countryside of Manbij and in the countryside of Deir Hafer,” the SDF wrote in a statement.
The SDF said it also “conducted an operation in the village of Atshana, south of Manbij, targeting a gathering of vehicles and personnel belonging to the Turkish occupation’s mercenaries. However, the number of casualties in this operation could not be confirmed.”
For more than a month, Turkey and the Syrian militia groups it supports, who call themselves the Syrian National Army (SNA), have carried out intense attacks on SDF-held areas near Manbij, including Tishreen Dam and Qere Qozaq bridge on the Euphrates River.
Taking control of the dam could help Ankara and the SNA easily advance to other parts of Kurdish-held northeast Syria (Rojava).
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Turkey carried out airstrikes and shelling around the dam and Manbij on Thursday.
Turkey considers Kurdish forces in northern Syria to be a front for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and has threatened to carry out a military offensive against them.
While battling the SNA and Turkey, the SDF is also engaged in discussions with the new leadership in Damascus.
Earlier this month, Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said the new Syrian army would include the SDF, days after he met with SDF chief Mazloum Abdi to discuss the future of the Kurdish-led force and the status of Rojava. Abdi has expressed readiness to integrate his force into Syria’s new security apparatus if both sides agree on a formula.
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