Syria war monitor says 21 pro-Turkey fighters killed near flashpoint northern town
A Syria war monitor said 21 pro-Turkey fighters were killed Wednesday after they attacked a Kurdish-held position near a flashpoint northern town despite a US-brokered ceasefire extension in the area.
The fighting between Turkish-backed factions and US-backed Kurdish-led forces comes more than a week after Islamist-led rebels toppled Syria's longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad.
"At least 21 members of pro-Turkey factions were killed and others wounded by fire from the Manbij Military Council after pro-Turkey factions attacked" a position at the Tishreen Dam, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the town of Manbij, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The United States said on Tuesday it had brokered an extension to a fragile ceasefire in Manbij and was seeking a broader understanding with Turkey.
The Britain-based Observatory, which has a network of sources inside Syria, said Wednesday's attack included "support from Turkish reconnaissance aircraft" and was followed by "heavy clashes with heavy and medium weapons".
The monitor also reported unspecified casualties among the Manbij Military Council, which is affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as among SDF fighters.
The SDF said in a statement that its forces "successfully repelled" the pro-Turkey fighters and that "after thwarting the attacks, Manbij Military Council forces initiated a combing operation in the vicinity of the Tishreen Dam and the surrounding area".
Swathes of north and northeast Syria are controlled by a Kurdish administration whose de facto army, the SDF, spearheaded the fight that defeated Islamic State group jihadists in Syria in 2019.
- Kobane -
Turkey accuses the main component of the SDF, the People's Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants at home, whom both Washington and Ankara consider a "terrorist" group.
Ankara has staged multiple operations against the SDF since 2016, and Turkish-backed groups have captured several Kurdish-held towns in the north in recent weeks.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday that the Manbij truce, which had recently expired, had been "extended through the end of the week, and we will, obviously, look to see that ceasefire extended as far as possible into the future".
The extension comes amid fears of an assault by Turkey on the Kurdish-held border town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of Manbij.
SDF leader Mazloum Abdi on Tuesday proposed a "demilitarised zone" in Kobane.
The military chief of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist rebel group that led the offensive that ousted Assad, said Tuesday that Kurdish-held areas of Syria would be integrated under the country's new leadership.
While the Kurdish administration has extended a hand to the new authorities, the long-oppressed community fears it could lose hard-won gains it made during the war, including limited self-rule.
