MANBIJ /Syria/, January 8. /TASS/. Russian military police have started patrolling the surroundings of the northern Syrian city of Manbij in the Aleppo governorate, near the border with Syria, spokesman Yusup Mamatov told reporters.

"Today we started patrolling the security zone near the city of Manbij and its surroundings. The task is to ensure safety within the zone of responsibility, to control the positions and movement of armed groups," he said.

The route of military police patrols will change regularly, he added.

According to Mamatov, during their missions Russian servicemen are receiving reports from local residents about weapons caches and unexploded ordnances left after the region’s occupation by militants.

Following the US decision to withdraw troops from Syria, groups of Kurdish Self-Defense Forces requested the Damascus government to establish control over territories they used to hold, including Manbij. According to the Syrian Defense Ministry, about 400 members of Self-Defense Forces left the city and headed to the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, where they are set to concentrate on fighting against the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia).</s>After the US decided to withdraw troops from Syria, Russian forces want to take over the control of the region as well as the Assad regime forces.

YPG terror forces, called regime forces to Manbij late last month after US President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement of a full American withdrawal from Syria.

Speaking in a report on Rossiya 24 television, Russian military police spokesman Yusup Mamatov said MPs had started patrolling the security zone around Manbij. “The task is to ensure security in the area of responsibility (and) to monitor the situation and movements of armed formations,” Mamatov said.

The report said Russian military police would be deployed in the area “on a regular basis.

It showed a group of around a dozen khaki-clad armed military police driving through villages in jeeps and trucks flying the Russian flag.</s>Russian military police have started to patrol the area around the city of Manbij in Syria’s Aleppo governorate. The move follows Syrian government troops entering the area and is aimed at preventing hostilities.

The first patrol was performed by a Russian MP detachment on Tuesday. Footage from the scene shows the military policemen, in full combat gear, being briefed before the mission and then boarding their vehicles.

The video shows the column of several Tigr mobility vehicles and armored trucks driving through the area with their lights flashing. Locals flock to the road to greet the Russian servicemen. Several detachments of government troops can be seen as well as Syria’s national flags.

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“Today, we’ve begun to patrol the security zone in the area of the settlement of Manbij and its vicinity. The task is to ensure security in the area of responsibility, to control the situation and movements of armed units,” MP spokesman Yusup Mamatov told reporters.

The deployment follows recent changes in the country, prompted by the abrupt US decision to withdraw from Syria that was announced by President Donald Trump in December. The US military has been occupying vast areas in the northeast, supporting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia and its backbone, the People’s Protection Units (YPG).

After the US announcement, the Kurds faced a growing threat of a Turkish invasion which has been promised repeatedly by Ankara. Turkey regards Syrian Kurdish-led militias as “terrorists,” believing the YPG to be an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK). The latter has been waging an insurgency in Turkey’s southeast since 1980s.

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Late in December, leaders of Kurdish militias controlling the city of Manbij, which lies close to border with Turkey, struck a deal with Damascus, returning control of the area to the government and letting the Syrian troops move in. Last week, the YPG units began to withdraw from Manbij, heading east across the Euphrates river.

to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you.</s>Russian military police have begun patrolling around the Syrian city of Manbij, a spokesman said Tuesday, moving into an area once held by US-backed Kurdish forces.

Russian forces are acting in support of Syrian government troops who recently deployed around Manbij, in Aleppo province near the border with Turkey.

Kurdish fighters, fearing a Turkish military assault, invited regime forces to Manbij late last month after US President Donald Trump's shock announcement of a full American withdrawal from Syria.

Speaking in a report on Rossiya 24 television, Russian military police spokesman Yusup Mamatov said MPs had started patrolling "the security zone around Manbij".

"The task is to ensure security in the area of responsibility (and) to monitor the situation and movements of armed formations," Mamatov said.

The report said Russian military police would be deployed in the area "on a regular basis".

It showed a group of around a dozen khaki-clad armed military police driving through villages in jeeps and lorries flying the Russian flag.

A separate report on Channel One television said military police were patrolling just a few kilometres from Manbij.

It said the police would "establish dialogue with local residents" who could report if they found caches of weapons or unexploded munitions.

Critics have warned Trump that an abrupt US withdrawal from Syria would allow allies of President Bashar al-Assad's regime -- including Russia and Iran -- to increase their influence in the country.

About 2,000 US troops, mainly special forces, are deployed in Syria to work with local fighters in the battle against the Islamic State group.

Kurdish fighters formed the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which seized Manbij from IS in 2016.

They withdrew from the town earlier this month after Trump's announcement.

Trump has in recent days sought to calm fears of an abrupt US pullout, saying any withdrawal would be done in a "prudent" manner.

It was not clear how close the Russian patrols may have been to areas where US forces are deployed.

Syria's Kurdish minority has largely stayed out of the seven-year civil war, but controls large parts of the north and northeast, much of it seized in the US-supported campaign against IS.</s>After the United States decided to withdraw troops from Syria, Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) appealed to Damascus to establish control over the areas they had previously occupied, including Manbij, and to protect them from the Turkish invasion. In late December, Syrian troops entered Manbij. In early January, Syrian Defence Ministry reported that about 400 YPG fighters left Manbij and were heading toward the eastern bank of Euphrates to focus on fighting the Daesh* terrorist group.

"Today, patrols have begun to patrol the security zone in the area of the settlement of Manbij and its suburbs. The task is to ensure security in the area of responsibility, to control the position and movement of armed formations," Mamatov said.

The first patrol route of military police officers passed along the rear border of the security zone near Manbij, he explained.

The military patrolled several tens of kilometres in the northern part of the province, and the route will change regularly in the future, Mamatov added.

According to the spokesman, the military police receive from local residents reports about arms dumps and unexploded shells that have remained here since the occupation of the territories by militants.

*Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State/IS), a terrorist group banned in Russia and a wide number of other countries.</s>Russian military police have started to patrol the area around the city of Manbij in Syria's Aleppo governorate. The move follows Syrian government troops entering the area and is aimed at preventing hostilities.The first patrol was performed by a Russian MP detachment on Tuesday. Footage from the scene shows the military policemen, in full combat gear, being briefed before the mission and then boarding their vehicles.The video shows the column of several Tigr mobility vehicles and armored trucks driving through the area with their lights flashing."Today, we've begun to patrol the security zone in the area of the settlement of Manbij and its vicinity. The task is to ensure security in the area of responsibility, to control the situation and movements of armed units," MP spokesman Yusup Mamatov told reporters.The deployment follows recent changes in the country, prompted by the abrupt US decision to withdraw from Syria that was announced by President Donald Trump in December. The US military has been occupying vast areas in the northeast, supporting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia and its backbone, the People's Protection Units (YPG).After the US announcement,. Turkey regards Syrian Kurdish-led militias as "terrorists," believing the YPG to be an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK). The latter has been waging an insurgency in Turkey's southeast since 1980s.Late in December, leaders of Kurdish militias controlling the city of Manbij, which lies close to border with Turkey, struck a deal with Damascus, returning control of the area to the government and letting the Syrian troops move in.</s>BEIRUT, LEBANON (1:00 A.M.) – There has been no official agreement between the Syrian government and Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) on transferring control of Manbij to the former, a military source told Al-Masdar News this evening.

The Syrian Democratic Council and the Syrian government are currently working out details on the future governance of Manbij, while also attempting to reach a consensus on a number of topics concerning the city, the source continued.

In regards to the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) deployment to the Manbij, the source said there was an agreement to allow the military to protect the are, but that there have been no orders by their High Command to enter the city.

Early reports indicated that the Syrian Arab Army had entered Manbij two weeks ago; however, this would later be denied by members of the military and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The Syrian Arab Army’s presence in Manbij has been regarded by sources in Damascus as a “deterrent measure” to prevent the Turkish Armed Forces from expanding into northern Syria.

Manbij is a large city that is located in the northeastern countryside of the Aleppo Governorate; it was previously occupied by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) and Free Syrian Army (FSA) during the first years of the war.</s>ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday that Turkey will not refrain from military action to protect its borders from what he describes as threats posed by Syrian Kurdish fighters.

The minister’s comments came a day after Turkey rejected U.S. national security adviser John Bolton’s demands for assurances that Ankara would protect U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria before American troops pull out from the region.

Turkey's rebuff amplified a rift between Ankara and Washington and raised new questions about how the United States would protect fighters who are U.S. allies in the war against the Islamic State group.

Cavusoglu told Turkey's parliamentary foreign affairs committee the U.S. was "struggling to withdraw" from Syria because it was too far engaged with the militia group.

In northern Syria, Russian military police and the al-Bab Military Council group began joint patrols in an area close to the front lines with Turkey-backed opposition fighters, according to the Kurdish Hawar news agency and a Kurdish official.

Al-Bab Military Council is allied with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that have been fighting the Islamic State group with the help of the U.S.-led coalition.

Sharfan Darwish of the Kurdish-led Manbij Military Council also confirmed the joint patrols near the Kurdish-held town of Manbij.

A representative of the military police told reporters Tuesday that Russia’s mission is to ensure safety in the Manbij area, and monitor moves of militant groups.

The area near Manbij was previously occupied by U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces, who were forced to appeal to Syria and Russia amid fears of a Turkish attack.

Russia’s move came after U.S. President Donald Trump in December unexpectedly announced he would pull out 2,000 U.S. troops leaving strategic areas near Turkey’s border up for grabs.</s>
The military police of Russia says that it has started patrolling the area surrounding Manbij.