Turkey-Backed Militants Target Kurdish Militias in Manbij

SOHR reported that the Ankara-backed forces known as the Euphrates Shield opened heavy machinegun fire at the village of al-Hamran Northwest of the town of Manbij.

It further said that the Ankara forces targeted the positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces and farms in the region.

In the meantime, the US-led coalition fighter jets conducted round the clock flights over Manbij.

The attacks were carried out regardless of an agreement between the US and Turkish forces to carry out joint patrols along a buffer zone separating the Euphrates Shield forces from the Manbij Military Council forces. 

SOHR said earlier this month that Turkish intelligence service transferred over 700 Ankara-backed militants and their military hardware from Afrin to the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River via the Turkish territory to use them in a massive operation against the Kurds.

In the meantime, the Turkish-language Yeni Safak paper reported that the Turkish troops were fully prepared to launch a large-scale operation against the Kurds on the Eastern banks of the Euphrates River at the border with Turkey.

The daily further pointed to the Kurdish forces' movements at the borderline with Turkey, and said that the Kurds equipped their militias with advanced missile launchers, cannons and mortar launchers.

It said that most of the Kurdish militias have been trained by the US forces in a military base in the town of Ein al-Arab.    

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