Turkish Army Preparing to Storm Kurdish Positions in Northern Syria

The sources quoted Yusef Hamoud, a spokesman for the Turkey-backed National Army, as disclosing that Ankara forces are preparing to launch operation against the Kurds in Aleppo's Manbij, Raqqa's Tal Abyadh and Hasaka's Ra'as al-Ein.

The sources further said that the Turkish troops and army aircraft will also participate in the operation, adding that the anti-Kurds operation on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River includes several phases using different weapons.

In the meantime, Turkey's Yeni Safak daily quoted Abdullah Agar, Turkish security expert, as reporting that the Ankara forces' operation will cover a vast region as large as 550 sq-km along Syria-Turkey border.

He further told the paper that the Turkish troop will operate in at least 20 sq-km of the projected operation area.

The daily further said that the Ankara forces' operation will split over Sinjar region in Northwestern Iraq.

The Kurdish-language Hawar news reported on Thursday that the 'Executive Council for Autonomous Forces in Northern and Eastern Syria' ordered all troops to go on alert after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch military operations against Kurds in coming days.

The Kurdish forces in a statement claimed Ankara attempts to support the ISIL, calling on the US-led coalition, the international community, specially the UN, and the NATO members to voice opposition to Ankara's aggressive plans.

Meantime, commander of Ferqat al-Hamzeh, affiliated to the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) terrorist group, said that nearly 20,000 FSA militants are prepared to take part in the Turkish army's military operations against Kurds in Eastern Euphrates, specially the town of Manbij in Aleppo and Tal Abyadh in Raqqa.

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