Kurds try to take airbase from insurgents in northern Syria

BEIRUT — Kurdish fighters, helped by Russian airstrikes, launched an attack in northern Syria on Wednesday in an attempt to capture a military air base held by Syrian insurgents, while an international aid group warned that the health system in parts of the north is close to collapse.

Syria’s Kurds have been among the most effective forces battling the Islamic State group, but have remained largely neutral in the conflict between President Bashar Assad and the rebels fighting to overthrow him.

But with Syrian troops, backed by Russian warplanes, waging a major offensive between the northern city of Aleppo and the Turkish border, the Kurds appeared to be exploiting the chaos to expand their nearby enclave, known as Afrin.

Maj. Yasser Abdul-Rahim, a rebel commander in Aleppo province, said fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, known as the YPG, were clashing with rebels near Mannagh air base. He accused the YPG of trying to take Arab villages near Afrin.

“We are fighting on three fronts,” he said via Skype, refer- ring to the YPG, Syrian troops and the IS group, which also controls parts of Aleppo province. He warned that Mannagh air base could fall to Kurdish fighters because of the Russian air cover and the intensity of the attack.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said YPG fighters are trying to capture the former Syrian air base, which fell to the opposition in August 2013.

Ahmad al-Ahmad, an opposition activist based in Aleppo province, said the fighting is concentrated outside the air base and that Russian warplanes are bombarding the area. He said YPG fighters are also trying to push their way toward the nearby village of Kfar Naya. “The front in northern Aleppo is in flames,” he said via Skype.

Kurdish forces in Afrin could not be reached for comment.

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said military operations in Aleppo province have brought “the already devastated health system” close to collapse in the Azaz district, 10 kilometres from the Turkish border.

The group, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, said any escalation would worsen the humanitarian crisis in the north- ern region, from which tens of thousands of people have fled toward the border with Turkey.

It said several hospitals and smaller health facilities in Azaz and around the city of Aleppo have been hit by airstrikes in the past two weeks, including at least three MSF-supported hospitals.

MSF said attacks “on the few remaining functional medical facilities must stop immediately. Fighting and bombing campaigns in heavily populated areas must be halted, at the very least until civilians can flee to secure areas with access to basic services.”

The Observatory said since the offensive in Aleppo province began on Feb. 1, 518 people have died, including 101 civilians, 169 insurgents and 143 troops and pro-government forces.

Troops have captured dozens of villages in the area and were able to lift a three-year siege on two Shiite villages in Aleppo province last week.

In London, top Syrian opposition figure Riad Hijab said the opposition would not attend a scheduled round of indirect peace talks in Geneva on Feb. 25 unless the Russian-Syrian bombardment stops, sieges on rebelheld areas are lifted and detainees are freed.