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Syrian Army to Seize Kurdish-Held Town in Aleppo

The Syrian military is reportedly poised to take over Manbij from Kurdish militants in an attempt to prevent the Northern city's fall to the Turkish army.

Turkish army forces have begun ground operations in Northeastern Syria, and crossed into the country’s territories on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River, hours after kicking off a major military operation against Kurdish militias in the war-torn country on Wednesday. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced from the area due to the bombardment, acording to local and international organizations, while tens of civilians killed and wounded in recent days.

A source told Sputnik news agency on Saturday that Syrian government forces will enter Manbij in Aleppo Province under an agreement reached between Russia and Syria on the one side and Russia, the US and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the other.

The deal includes the deployment of Syrian army units with heavy and medium weapons in Manbij, where they would raise the national flag over government buildings as well as entrances to the city, he revealed.

The Syrian army build-up in Manbij is meant to prevent the invasion of the city by Turkish forces and their allied militants, who have been attacking Syria’s Northeast over the past few days. Earlier on Saturday, the US reportedly withdrew its last military equipment from Manbij.

Manbij was liberated from the ISIL (ISIS or Daesh) terrorist group in 2016. Since then, it has been controlled by Washington-sponsored SDF, led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

Damascus has censured Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest remarks concerning his keenness to protect Syrian people and their rights as far from reality, emphasizing that the Damascus government will respond to Ankara’s offensive into the Northeastern part of the country through all available legal means.

Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has also attacked Kurdish fighters, saying they had betrayed their country. He accused US-backed Kurdish militants of following a separatist agenda that gave Turkey a pretext to violate his country’s sovereignty.

The Turkish military had launched two cross-border incursions in Northern Syria, namely “Euphrates Shield” in August 2016 and “Olive Branch” in January 2018 with the declared aim of eradicating Kurdish militants and ISIL terrorists near Turkey’s borders.

Addressing the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in late September, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem lashed out at Turkey for providing “terrorists with all forms of support, including weapons that are more sophisticated”, stating that Ankara’s action undermines all agreements reached during the Astana talks in Kazakhstan.

“If Turkey is truly committed to the security of its borders and the unity of Syria, as it claims, it must choose whether to respect the Astana understandings and the bilateral agreements on counter-terrorism to secure the borders and to withdraw its forces from Syria, or to be the aggressor and the occupier – and to face the consequences,” he noted.

Muallem stated that Syria is resolved to rid the entire Arab country of foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants.

In a recent interview with Al-Mayadeen television news network, the top Syrian diplomat said “every inch” of the Syrian territory will be liberated from terrorists very soon.

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