Pro-Kurdish group ready to combat Turkish forces in Syria

[Anthea]

Pro-Kurdish group says ready to combat Turkish forces in northern Syria
Reporting by: Wladimir van Wilgenburg

The military commander of the Northern Democratic Brigade, Iskander Alaa, said on Sunday that they are ready to ‘liberate all the territory of Syria from the Turkish occupation’ in a response to Turkish plans to attack the Kurdish Afrin district in northwestern Aleppo.

The Northern Democratic Brigade operates under the umbrella of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against radical Islamist groups in northern Syria.

The commander told reporters that they have pledged to the Syrian people to cleanse Syria from terrorism, and that the people of ‘Syria will liberate the areas of Shahba [northern Aleppo] from the Turkish occupation’.

The commander called on armed factions working with the Turkey-backed Euphrates Shield to join the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

“Tribal heads must unite with revolutionary factions to end the Turkish occupation on the territory of northern Syria,” Alaa told the local ANHA agency.

The Turkish army and Syrian rebels in August launched the Euphrates Shield campaign and by May 2017 announced the end of its operation after capturing al-Bab town in Aleppo province, taking over nearly 2,000 sq km of Syrian territory.

The main aim of the operation was to prevent the Kurds from linking up their cantons from Kobani until Efrin through northern Aleppo. Now the Turkish media claims that a Turkey-backed force of 20,000 fighters are preparing to attack Afrin (known in Kurdish as Efrîn).

This comes as the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continue their operations against ISIS in Raqqa.

Syrian Kurdish officials have called on the international community to prevent the attacks, suggesting it could disrupt the campaign to liberate Raqqa, the so-called ISIS capital in Syria.

http://aranews.net/2017/07/pro-kurdish- ... ern-syria/