Syrian Kurds halt operations against Daesh group

DAMASCUS: The commander of the main Usbacked Kurdish-led force in Syria said on Saturday they have halted operations against the Daesh group due to Turkish atacks on northern Syria over the past week.

Mazloum Abdi of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) told reporters that ater nearly a week of Turkish air strikes on northern Syria, Ankara is now preparing for a ground offensive. He said Turkey-backed opposition fighters are geting ready to take part in the operations.

Abdi added that Turkish strikes over the past week have caused severe damage to the region’s infrastructure.

Abdi said Turkey is taking advantage of the deadly Nov.13 bombing in Istanbul that Ankara blames on Kurdish groups. Kurdish organisations have denied any involvement in the Istanbul attack that killed six and wounded dozens.

Over the past week, Turkey launched a wave of air strikes on suspected Kurdish rebels hiding in neighbouring Syria and Iraq in retaliation for the Istanbul atack.

“The forces that work symbolically with the international coalition in the fight against Daesh are now targets for the Turkish state and therefore (military) operations have stopped,” Abdi said.

“Anti-daesh operations have stopped.” His comments came hours ater the US military said two rockets targeted Us-led coalition forces at bases in the northeastern Syrian town of Shaddadeh resulting in no “injuries or damage to the base or coalition property.”

The US military statement said SDF fighters visited the site of the rocket’s origin and found a third unfired rocket.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, blamed Daesh sleeper cells for the Friday night atack on the US base.

“Atacks of this kind place coalition forces and the civilian populace at risk and undermine the hard-earned stability and security of Syria and the region,” said Col. Joe Buccino, CENTCOM spokesman.

The SDF said in a statement before midnight on Friday that as Turkish drones flew over the Al Hol camp that is home to tens of thousands of mostly wives, widows and children of Daesh fighters, some Daesh family members atacked security forces and managed to escape from the sprawling facility.

The SDF did not say how many escaped but that they were later detained.

Kurdish authorities operate more than two dozen detention facilities scatered across northeastern Syria holding about 10,000 Daesh fighters.