The Syrian National Army (SNA), a paramilitary group with ties to Turkey and formerly known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA), has been forced into action after jihadists from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) were killed. , launched an attack on Kurdish forces in Syria's Aleppo province this weekend. It reportedly laid siege to the city of Aleppo and eliminated dictator Bashar al-Assad's forces.
The SNA attack on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militia coalition led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG/YPJ), appears to be an operation independent of the reported HTS conquest of Aleppo. HTS (formerly Al-Nusra Front) is a Sunni jihadist al-Qaeda-affiliated group that opposes Assad and has played a major role in Syria's civil war since its outbreak in 2011.
Syria's civil war had been at a standstill for nearly a decade until Thursday's surprise attack, which came after the Islamic State caliphate's capital Raqqa fell and President Bashar al-Assad consolidated control of Aleppo. Syrian Kurdish forces maintained control of much of the country's northeast, which Kurds call Rojava, with little opposition from Damascus.
But in the meantime, the Turkish government, led by Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has repeatedly invaded Syria to attack Kurdish forces, and the YPG and the all-female YPJ organization have been linked to Marxist U.S. Kurdistan. He claimed that it was indistinguishable from the Workers' Party (PKK). -Designated terrorist organization. The United States worked closely with the YPG and YPJ in the fight against Islamic State, and the SDF contributed to the liberation of Raqqa. President Erdogan again threatened to invade Syria in May.
Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported On Sunday, the SNA launched an offensive called “Operation Dawn of Freedom” against the Kurds, shortly after HTS jihadists invaded Aleppo, seizing 23 villages that Turkey's allies had captured from Kurdish control. It was announced that the project was listed as almost successful. Much of the fighting is reportedly occurring in Aleppo province, with the aim of separating the city of Tell Rifaat from Manbij, another Kurdish city near the Turkish border.
“The Syrian National Union affirms the right of the Syrian people, together with all its members, to reclaim the country and lands stolen by Syria. [Bashar al-] Assad regime, Iranian militias supporting it, and PYD militias,” SNA reported. said in a statement announcing the attack. PYD is also an acronym associated with the Syrian Kurdish forces.
On Sunday, Anadolu reported that SNA “releasedTel Rifaat has been under Kurdish control for the past eight years, calling it an “occupation.”
“The PKK/YPG, supported by Russian airstrikes, occupied Tell Rifaat and surrounding areas in February 2016. They were evacuated,” Anadolu Agency said.
Kurds have similarly long accused the Turkish military and its proxies of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement in Rojava. In 2019, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched an invasion dubbed “Operation Peace Spring,” the SDF claimed that Turkey had “begun the occupation.” [sic] Attempts to invade Christian villages and the Tamil Highlands, inhabited primarily by Assyrians. [sic]is under threat of annihilation. ”
The SNA, formerly known as the Free Syrian Army, has long been one of the main rebel groups since the start of Syria's civil war in 2011. In its current version, founded in 2017, referred to It was officially reconstituted to support Turkey's military operations against the Islamic State, and not only opposed Bashar al-Assad, but also served as a “contractor for Turkey's foreign operations.”
Kurdish control of Kurdish areas in Syria has created a “terror corridor” that poses a national security threat to Turkey, Anadolu reported. Notably, Anadolu did not explain why the SNA, which Turkey claims is a friendly but independent Syrian anti-Assad militia, has an interest in maintaining Turkey's security.
Kurdish news agency “Rudo” reported On Sunday, Kurdish leaders announced a “mobilization” to increase troop levels in response to the attack.
The SDF reportedly called on everyone to “heed the call for national mobilization and work closely with the SDF and the internal security forces,” calling on “Kurds, Arabs, Syrians, Assyrians, Armenians and Circassians, play your historical role by joining the resistance front.
Beyond the fighting in Tel Rifaat, Rudaw said, the motivation for the SNA attack appeared to be the fact that the SDF had tightened its control over parts of Aleppo to prevent further attacks by the Sunni jihadist HTS. Reported.
“A coalition of rebel forces led by jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) marched through Aleppo, forcing regime soldiers to flee,” Rudaw said. with narration“The SDF seized strategic positions in eastern Aleppo, creating a corridor from the Euphrates River into the city, and briefly captured key locations, including Aleppo International Airport, on Saturday.''
Kurdish media claimed that the SDF had mainly made a “tactical withdrawal” from some of these areas.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirm News of the fall of Tell Rifaat on Sunday raised concerns that a lack of communication with the city could create an opportunity for a “genocide” of the estimated 200,000 Kurds in the area.
In the city of Aleppo, the Assad regime, with support from long-time ally Russia, reportedly countered the surprise success of HTS terrorists with a flurry of airstrikes this weekend.
