Tue 08 October 2019:
The Kurdish-led forces who helped the United States defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group in Syria have accused Washington of reneging on its commitments by pulling out troops from the country’s northeast and clearing the way for a Turkish assault on the Kurdish-controlled region.
In a statement on Monday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pledged to “defend our land at all costs”, with the group also calling Washington’s move “a stab in the back”.
The SDF, led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), was Washington’s main ally in Syria in the fight against ISIL. In recent years, they have expanded their control in northern and eastern Syria, in a vast area stretching 480km (300 miles) from the Euphrates River to the Iraq border.
Turkey considers the Kurdish forces a “terrorist organisation” linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long armed campaign for autonomy in Turkey.
The beginning of the US troops’ withdrawal came after a statement late on Sunday by the White House that the US would not intervene in the long-threatened Turkish operation. The announcement came after a phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
‘Owed an explanation’
The SDF, in its Monday statement, decried the US’s troop withdrawal, saying: “Despite all our efforts to avoid conflict, our commitment to the security mechanism agreement and taking necessary steps on our end, the US forces did not carry out their responsibilities and have withdrawn from border areas with Turkey.
The SDF, comprising both Kurdish and Arab militias, reportedly has 60,000 fighters under its command. The group said it lost 11,000 fighters in the battle against ISIL. There are around 1,000 US troops in northern Syria.
On Monday, Trump defended the decision in a series of tweets, saying: “The Kurds fought with us, but were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so. They have been fighting Turkey for decades. I held off this fight for almost three years, but it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars.”
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