BESIEGED KURDS FIND NEW ALLIES
DAMASCUS: Syrian government forces have agreed to help fend off Turkey’s in--vasion after US President Donald Trump withdrew more troops from the northern border amid rapidly deepening chaos.
The move could lead to o clashes between allies Tur--key and Syria and raises the e spectre of a resurgent Islamic State as the US relinquishes influence in northern Syria to President Bashar Assad and chief backer, Russia.
The Kurds now have found new friends in the Russian-backed Syrian forces, who are loyal to Bashar alAssad’s regime.
It comes as hundreds of IS families and supporters escaped a holding camp in Syria amid an escalation in fighting between Turkish forces and the Kurds.
And the Pentagon yesterday confirmed Mr Trump had ordered the withdrawal of up to 1000 troops from northern Syria — almost their entire ground force in the war-torn country.
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said all American troops would be withdrawn from northern Syria, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire.
“We have American forces likely caught between two opposing advancing armies and it’s a very untenable situation,” Mr Esper said.
Yesterday, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan brushed off threats of sanctions against him amid the conflict and he dismissed a plea for calm from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“After we launched our operation, we have faced threats like economic sanctions and embargoes on weapons sales,” he said.
“Those who think they can make Turkey turn back with these threats are gravely mistaken.”
Mr Erdogan also criticised Chancellor Merkel after she announced Germany would no longer supply arms to Turkey, a fellow member of the NATO alliance.
France has also suspended arms sales to Turkey.
“I told her to explain it to me. Are we really allies at the heart of NATO, or has the terrorist group been accepted into NATO without my being informed?” he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday put the death toll at 104 Syrian soldiers and eight Turkish soldiers, while Turkey has only reported five deaths.
An estimated 130,000 people have been displaced.
A journalist was among those killed on Sunday when Turkish shells hit a civilian convoy of up to 200 vehicles on its way to Ras al-Ayn, a border town that Turkey has claimed it now controls.
Another three journalists were injured in the attack, which killed up to 10 people.
Up to 40 people were injured in the attack.
Mr Trump tweeted on Sunday that it was “very smart not to be involved in the intense fighting”.