Russia vows YPG retaliation ‘if provoked’
RUSSIA said yesterday it had warned the U.S. it would target areas in Syria where the U.S. Army Special Forces and U.S.-backed militia were operating if its own forces came under fire from them, something it said had already happened twice.
Russia was referring to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the group predominantly consisting of the PKK’s Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party’s (PYD) armed wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
“Syrian forces have twice come under massive mortar and rocket artillery fire coming from the areas on the eastern bank of the Euphrates where SDF fighters and U.S. Army Special Forces are deployed,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
Konashenkov said the warning was delivered to the U.S. military command. Russian special forces have been deployed to help Assad regime forces fighting the Daesh militants outside Deir ezZor, he added.
“Attempts to open fire from SDFcontrolled areas would be immediately met with retaliation,” he said. “The firing positions in those areas will be immediately destroyed with all the arsenal at our disposal.”
However, a Syrian commander with the U.S.-backed SDF denied Russian accusations of shelling, saying at least 7 kilometers (4 miles) of Daesh-held territory separates them from the Syrian government troops.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon confirmed that the SDF continues its advance in the province of Deir ez-Zor.
Major Adrian Rankine Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman, who answered questions from Anadolu Agency (AA) reporters, also said Assad regime forces passed east of the Euphrates with Russia’s air support.
He refused to comment on which group is going to take control of Syria’s border with Iraq, which is held by Daesh. “It is not appropriate for me to speculate about future military operations,” he said.
The campaign for Deir ez-Zor, Syria’s largest eastern city, is caught up in a race between the Assad regime and the U.S.backed SDF.
In the past two weeks, the Assad regime forces, backed by Russian air cover and Iranian-allied paramilitary groups, gained control of most of the city and crossed the Euphrates River to the area of the SDF operations. Despite U.S. comments that consultations between the two sides intensified to avoid confrontation on the ground, the trading of accusations has continued.
The Russian-backed offensive on Deir ez-Zor began on Sept. 5, when the Assad regime breached a nearly three-year siege on its troops north of the city. The regime troops now control roughly 85 percent of the city and expect to gain full control of it in the coming week, Konashenkov said.