Syrian army troops enter key northern city of Manbij: SANA

Syrian government troops have entered the northern Kurdish-held city of Manbij on the sixth day of Turkey’s aggression against the Arab country, state media says.

Syria’s official news agency SANA made the announcement without providing further details.

A local official in Manbij also confirmed that troops had “entered (Manbij) and deployed on front lines.”

Manbij was liberated from the Daesh terrorist group in 2016. Since then, it has been controlled by the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an anti-Damascus alliance of predominantly Kurdish militants.  

The development came a day after Syrian government forces and the Syrian Kurds struck an alliance to help fend off the Turkish offensive after US troops pulled out of the region.

Earlier on Monday, Syrian army troops entered the towns of Tabqah, Ayn Isa and Tal Tamr in northeastern Syria after Damascus deployed troops in the area.

Tal Tamr is 35 kilometers southeast of Ra’s al-Ayn which is currently under the control of Turkish troops. It is on a strategically important highway, the M4, which runs east to west. Turkish forces seized the highway on Sunday.