Syrian army advance opens new link to Syrian Kurdistan
Posted on February 28, 2017 by Editorial Staff in Kurdistan
Syrian government soldier. Photo: TASS
BEIRUT,— A Syrian army advance against Islamic State in northern Syria has opened a new link between government-held areas in western Syria and Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), the Kurdish-dominated northeast, redrawing the map of the conflict near the Turkish border.
The advance, if sustained, could open a trade lifeline between the northeast, which has 70 percent of Syria’s oil and also includes rich farmland, and the west, where Syria’s manufacturing is based.
Northern Syria is one of the most complicated battlefields in the multi-sided Syrian war that erupted in 2011.
The army advance has taken place to the south of an area where Turkey and its rebel allies are waging their own, rival campaign, carving out a buffer zone to keep Islamic State and Kurdish groups away from the Turkish border.
Syrian government forces have now come to the edge of a swathe of territory dominated by the Kurdish YPG militia, which has mostly avoided conflict with Damascus but is seen by Turkey as an extension of the PKK militant group that has waged a three-decade insurgency on Turkish territory. The YPG’s critics have accused it of cooperating with Damascus in the Syrian war.
The spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militia alliance dominated by the powerful YPG and has about 30,000 Kurdish and 5,000 Arab fighters, said the Syrian army’s advance would bring benefits to civilians in the area.
“On the trade front and on the civilian front it is seen as an excellent thing, because now there is … a link between the entire northern rural area,” spokesman Talal Silo told Reuters.
Now, he said, there was a direct route from the SDF-controlled town of Manbij to the city of Aleppo “via areas controlled by the SDF and areas controlled by the regime forces”.
On August 24, 2016, Turkey has launched an incursion into northern Syria, in an area some 100 km (60 miles) east of Afrin to stop the US-backed Kurdish YPG forces from extending areas under their control and connecting Syrian Kurdistan’s Kobani and Hasaka in the east with Afrin canton in the west.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military on its latest advances, but state media said the village of Fikha al Sagira was captured as the army expanded control of areas south of al Bab city.
The city fell to Turkey-backed rebels on Thursday after months of heavy fighting against Islamic State militants.
By taking Islamic State territory south of al-Bab, the Syrian army is seeking to prevent any possible move by Turkey and the rebel groups it supports to expand southwards.
Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel groups participating in the Turkey-backed ‘Euphrates Shield’ operation also said on Monday they had captured a string of villages east of al Bab.
“INTERESTS OF CITIZEN”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army had captured some two dozen villages from Islamic State, bringing it to the edge of SDF-held areas south of Manbij.
The SDF captured Manbij from Islamic State last year with backing from the U.S.-led alliance against the jihadist group.
Silo said residents of the northeast who had previously depended on medical care in Aleppo and Damascus would be able to do so again. “All these matters are in the interests of the citizen,” he said.
The Syrian government still has footholds in YPG-dominated Syrian Kurdistan in the Kurdish cities of Qamishlo and Hasaka. The YPG also controls part of the city of Aleppo, where government forces and their allies defeated rebels in December.
The YPG forms the military backbone of three autonomous areas set up in predominantly Kurdish regions of northern Syria since the onset of the conflict in 2011.
Turkey’s intervention has disrupted the YPG’s plans to link up the two autonomous areas of northeastern Syria with the third one, which is located in northwestern Syria.
The main Syrian Kurdish groups and their allies want to preserve their autonomy in a new federal system of government for Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad opposes the idea.
U.S regards the Kurdish PYD and its powerful military wing YPG of Syrian Kurdistan as key ally against Islamic State and the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and has provided them with arms, air support as well as the military advisers. The Kurdish militia has seized swathes of Syria from IS.
Syrian Kurdistan’s ruling PYD has established three autonomous zones, or Cantons of Jazeera, Kobani and Afrin and a Kurdish government across Syrian Kurdistan in 2013. On March 17, 2016 Syria’s Kurds declared a federal region in Syrian Kurdistan.
Syrian Kurds on Dec. 30, 2016 have approved a blueprint for a system of federal government in Syrian Kurdistan, reaffirming their plans for autonomy in areas they have controlled during the civil war.
http://ekurd.net/army-link-syrian-kurdistan-2017-02-28
Posted on February 28, 2017 by Editorial Staff in Kurdistan
Syrian government soldier. Photo: TASS
BEIRUT,— A Syrian army advance against Islamic State in northern Syria has opened a new link between government-held areas in western Syria and Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), the Kurdish-dominated northeast, redrawing the map of the conflict near the Turkish border.
The advance, if sustained, could open a trade lifeline between the northeast, which has 70 percent of Syria’s oil and also includes rich farmland, and the west, where Syria’s manufacturing is based.
Northern Syria is one of the most complicated battlefields in the multi-sided Syrian war that erupted in 2011.
The army advance has taken place to the south of an area where Turkey and its rebel allies are waging their own, rival campaign, carving out a buffer zone to keep Islamic State and Kurdish groups away from the Turkish border.
Syrian government forces have now come to the edge of a swathe of territory dominated by the Kurdish YPG militia, which has mostly avoided conflict with Damascus but is seen by Turkey as an extension of the PKK militant group that has waged a three-decade insurgency on Turkish territory. The YPG’s critics have accused it of cooperating with Damascus in the Syrian war.
The spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militia alliance dominated by the powerful YPG and has about 30,000 Kurdish and 5,000 Arab fighters, said the Syrian army’s advance would bring benefits to civilians in the area.
“On the trade front and on the civilian front it is seen as an excellent thing, because now there is … a link between the entire northern rural area,” spokesman Talal Silo told Reuters.
Now, he said, there was a direct route from the SDF-controlled town of Manbij to the city of Aleppo “via areas controlled by the SDF and areas controlled by the regime forces”.
On August 24, 2016, Turkey has launched an incursion into northern Syria, in an area some 100 km (60 miles) east of Afrin to stop the US-backed Kurdish YPG forces from extending areas under their control and connecting Syrian Kurdistan’s Kobani and Hasaka in the east with Afrin canton in the west.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military on its latest advances, but state media said the village of Fikha al Sagira was captured as the army expanded control of areas south of al Bab city.
The city fell to Turkey-backed rebels on Thursday after months of heavy fighting against Islamic State militants.
By taking Islamic State territory south of al-Bab, the Syrian army is seeking to prevent any possible move by Turkey and the rebel groups it supports to expand southwards.
Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel groups participating in the Turkey-backed ‘Euphrates Shield’ operation also said on Monday they had captured a string of villages east of al Bab.
“INTERESTS OF CITIZEN”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army had captured some two dozen villages from Islamic State, bringing it to the edge of SDF-held areas south of Manbij.
The SDF captured Manbij from Islamic State last year with backing from the U.S.-led alliance against the jihadist group.
Silo said residents of the northeast who had previously depended on medical care in Aleppo and Damascus would be able to do so again. “All these matters are in the interests of the citizen,” he said.
The Syrian government still has footholds in YPG-dominated Syrian Kurdistan in the Kurdish cities of Qamishlo and Hasaka. The YPG also controls part of the city of Aleppo, where government forces and their allies defeated rebels in December.
The YPG forms the military backbone of three autonomous areas set up in predominantly Kurdish regions of northern Syria since the onset of the conflict in 2011.
Turkey’s intervention has disrupted the YPG’s plans to link up the two autonomous areas of northeastern Syria with the third one, which is located in northwestern Syria.
The main Syrian Kurdish groups and their allies want to preserve their autonomy in a new federal system of government for Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad opposes the idea.
U.S regards the Kurdish PYD and its powerful military wing YPG of Syrian Kurdistan as key ally against Islamic State and the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and has provided them with arms, air support as well as the military advisers. The Kurdish militia has seized swathes of Syria from IS.
Syrian Kurdistan’s ruling PYD has established three autonomous zones, or Cantons of Jazeera, Kobani and Afrin and a Kurdish government across Syrian Kurdistan in 2013. On March 17, 2016 Syria’s Kurds declared a federal region in Syrian Kurdistan.
Syrian Kurds on Dec. 30, 2016 have approved a blueprint for a system of federal government in Syrian Kurdistan, reaffirming their plans for autonomy in areas they have controlled during the civil war.
http://ekurd.net/army-link-syrian-kurdistan-2017-02-28
Today at 6:45 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance Committee discusses amending the three-year budget
Today at 6:40 am by Rocky
» utube 11/26/24 MM&C MM&C Iraq News-Central Bank Iraq-Monetary Stability Excellent-Budget Law 2023,
Today at 5:19 am by Rocky
» "Rich Iraq" seeks "money" to combat methane emissions: internal and external obstacles
Today at 5:13 am by Rocky
» Increase in foreign remittance sales at the Central Bank of Iraq auction
Today at 5:12 am by Rocky
» Its area is 2.5 million acres, and these are its details.. Work begins on a "large" residential city
Today at 5:09 am by Rocky
» Kurdistan Finance delivers employees' salary schedule to the federal government
Today at 5:08 am by Rocky
» Beggars are sweeping the streets of Iraq.. Their numbers are "large" and 90% of them receive welfare
Today at 5:07 am by Rocky
» Settling tax trust claims
Today at 5:05 am by Rocky
» Launching the National School Health Strategy
Today at 5:04 am by Rocky
» Approval to implement service projects in Babylon
Today at 5:02 am by Rocky
» New container handling berths at ports
Today at 5:02 am by Rocky
» Work: Demand for registration in social security
Today at 5:01 am by Rocky
» Reconstruction: Land Bank to be completed next year
Today at 4:59 am by Rocky
» Aiming to enhance services in schools and prevent diseases, the National School Health Strategy for
Today at 4:58 am by Rocky
» Karmian Festival witnesses the conclusion of commercial and industrial contracts
Today at 4:57 am by Rocky
» Focus on the banking sector
Today at 4:56 am by Rocky
» Minister of Trade: Studies Center is a turning point that serves the Iraqi economy
Today at 4:55 am by Rocky
» Economists: Census is a roadmap for development
Today at 4:54 am by Rocky
» Today's newspapers are interested in Al-Sudani's announcement that the population of Iraq exceeds 45
Today at 4:53 am by Rocky
» International Development Bank: Today's incident was an extortion attempt that did not affect our wo
Today at 4:48 am by Rocky
» thirty-sixth session, chaired by the Minister of Planning
Today at 4:47 am by Rocky
» Closed meeting of the Parliamentary Finance Committee to discuss seven files
Today at 4:46 am by Rocky
» The demographic boom in Iraq: an economic opportunity or a social burden?
Today at 4:44 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani confirms to Russian delegation Iraq's desire to establish a mechanism that brings mutual b
Today at 4:42 am by Rocky
» Parliament holds its session headed by Al-Mashhadani and attended by 168 MPs
Today at 4:41 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi government deducts 1% of the salaries of employees and retirees to donate to Gaza and Leba
Today at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Iran announces its commitment to continuing gas exports to Iraq
Today at 4:37 am by Rocky
» Iraq, Russia discuss energy cooperation
Today at 4:36 am by Rocky
» British Home Secretary to visit Iraq tomorrow
Today at 4:35 am by Rocky
» The next parliament will have 450 members.. Officially, Al-Sudani announces that the population of I
Today at 4:33 am by Rocky
» US Ambassador Warns of 'Frightening Actions': Iraq Does Not Want to Be Drawn into Regional Conflict
Today at 4:32 am by Rocky
» Planning: The announced census results are not preliminary and the number will increase
Today at 4:30 am by Rocky
» Election “hype” begins early.. Al-Maliki insists on holding it and Al-Sudani prepares
Today at 4:29 am by Rocky
» “No more delays”.. Parliament changes the mechanism of holding sessions: “Controversial” laws are re
Today at 4:28 am by Rocky
» Al-Mashhadani to the heads of the blocs: I prefer to vote on the general amnesty law before anything
Today at 4:27 am by Rocky
» Iraq ranks 8th in the Arab world in achieving work-life balance in 2025
Today at 4:26 am by Rocky
» Labor announces issuance of more than a quarter of a million national cards for social protection be
Today at 4:24 am by Rocky
» Iraqi-Chinese research on accelerating combined cycle power projects
Today at 4:23 am by Rocky
» Al-Maliki praises the decision of the International Criminal Court and demands the resolution of the
Today at 4:22 am by Rocky
» Al-Mashhadani calls for voting on the general amnesty law for the “oppressed” before other laws
Today at 4:21 am by Rocky
» Yazan Mishaan Al-Habouri revolts against his "leak": There are those who obstruct the government's e
Today at 4:19 am by Rocky
» US Ambassador: Ending the presence of the international coalition in Iraq is being implemented and w
Today at 4:18 am by Rocky
» Al-Mashhadani directs to raise the suspended laws to the Presidency of the House of Representatives
Today at 4:17 am by Rocky
» "His general situation is unbearable" .. Parliamentarian: Political consensus to keep Iraq away from
Today at 4:16 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani agrees to launch the “For Her” initiative to support Iraqi women
Today at 4:15 am by Rocky
» Development Bank condemns extortion attempts: It will not affect our workflow
Today at 4:13 am by Rocky
» Iraq-China oil-for-reconstruction deal faltering: A geopolitical shift in the Middle East
Today at 4:12 am by Rocky
» Planning reveals the next step of the census: We will visit these families
Today at 4:10 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance Committee calls on the government to expedite sending the budget tables
Today at 4:09 am by Rocky
» OPEC+ may extend oil cuts at its meeting next Sunday
Today at 4:06 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Integrity Committee discusses with the Director of Central Oil the file of contracts a
Today at 4:04 am by Rocky
» Government notice regarding the legal status of foreign workers
Today at 4:02 am by Rocky
» House of Representatives holds "important" session today.. Expectations of extending the legislative
Today at 4:00 am by Rocky
» Slight rise in dollar prices against the dinar in Iraqi stock exchanges
Today at 3:59 am by Rocky
» Baghdad "softens" and Kurdistan oil prepares to continue its global journey
Today at 3:58 am by Rocky
» "For 5 million dinars or in installments" .. Iraqi electric cars soon on the streets
Today at 3:57 am by Rocky
» Where did the Intelligence Bill get to in the House of Representatives?
Today at 3:55 am by Rocky
» "Contract Suspicions Series"... What are the loopholes in the Korean air defense system contract in
Today at 3:54 am by Rocky
» MP reveals latest developments in the formation of the new Kurdistan government
Today at 3:51 am by Rocky
» Personal status: imposing a vision or turning Iraq into a copy similar to the Iranian religious regi
Today at 3:50 am by Rocky
» Oral question to the governor.. Parliamentary movement regarding the “Basra, the Economic Capital of
Today at 3:48 am by Rocky
» MM&C 11/25/24 Parliamentarian: We need to extend the legislative chapter to 8 sessions and the bud
Yesterday at 10:04 am by Rocky
» Al-Alaq: The monetary situation in Iraq is excellent and our reserves support the stability of the e
Yesterday at 8:29 am by Rocky
» utube 11/25/24 MM&C MM&C Iraq News-CBI Building Final Touches-Oil Exports-Development Road-Turkey-B
Yesterday at 6:33 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary movement to include the salary scale in the next session
Yesterday at 5:11 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance Committee reveals the budget paragraphs included in the amendment
Yesterday at 5:10 am by Rocky
» Al-Maliki calls on the Bar Association to hold accountable members who violate professional conduct
Yesterday at 5:08 am by Rocky
» Politician: The security agreement with America has many aspects
Yesterday at 5:07 am by Rocky
» Kurdistan Planning: More than 6 million people live in the region, the oldest of them is 126 years o
Yesterday at 5:05 am by Rocky
» Al-Alaq: Arab consensus on the role of central bank programs in addressing challenges
Yesterday at 5:03 am by Rocky
» Economics saves from political drowning
Yesterday at 5:02 am by Rocky
» Agriculture calls for strict ban on import of "industrial fats" and warns of health risks
Yesterday at 5:01 am by Rocky
» Iraq is the fourth largest oil exporter to China
Yesterday at 5:00 am by Rocky
» Railways continue to maintain a number of its lines to ensure the smooth running of trains
Yesterday at 4:59 am by Rocky
» Parliament resumes its sessions tomorrow.. and these are the most important amendments in the budget
Yesterday at 4:58 am by Rocky
» Bitcoin Fails to Continue Rising as It Approaches $100,000
Yesterday at 4:57 am by Rocky
» Minister of Planning: There will be accurate figures for the population of each governorate
Yesterday at 4:56 am by Rocky
» Popular Mobilization Law is ready for voting
Yesterday at 4:54 am by Rocky
» Mechanisms for accepting people with disabilities into postgraduate studies
Yesterday at 4:52 am by Rocky
» Government coordination to create five thousand jobs
Yesterday at 4:51 am by Rocky
» Transport: Next month, a meeting with the international organization to resolve the European ban
Yesterday at 4:50 am by Rocky
» Census is a path to digital government
Yesterday at 4:49 am by Rocky
» Calls to facilitate loans and reduce interest rates for the private sector
Yesterday at 4:47 am by Rocky
» The launch of the third and final phase of the "population census"
Yesterday at 4:46 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: We have accomplished a step that is the most prominent in the framework of planning, deve
Yesterday at 4:44 am by Rocky
» Justice discusses modern mechanisms to develop investment in real estate and minors’ money
Yesterday at 4:43 am by Rocky
» Dubai to host Arabplast exhibition next month
Yesterday at 4:41 am by Rocky
» Al-Tamimi: Integrity plays a major role in establishing the foundations of laws that will uphold jus
Yesterday at 4:39 am by Rocky
» Reaching the most important people involved in the "theft of the century" in Diyala
Yesterday at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Transportation: Completion of excavation works and connection of the immersed tunnel manufacturing b
Yesterday at 4:36 am by Rocky
» Between internal and regional challenges... Formation of the Kurdistan government on a "slow fire" a
Yesterday at 4:35 am by Rocky
» Kurdistan Region Presidency: We will issue a regional order to determine the first session of parlia
Yesterday at 4:34 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Foreign Affairs announces the convening of the Ambassadors Conference tomorrow, Mond
Yesterday at 4:33 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: Iraq must always be at the forefront
Yesterday at 4:32 am by Rocky
» Al-Mashhadani: We support the Foreign Ministry in confronting any external interference that affects
Yesterday at 4:31 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani chairs meeting with Oliver Wyman delegation
Yesterday at 4:29 am by Rocky
» Half a million beggars in Iraq.. 90% of them receive welfare salaries
Yesterday at 4:27 am by Rocky
» Sudanese announces preliminary results of the general population and housing census in detail
Yesterday at 4:26 am by Rocky