The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will counter Iraq’s mostly Iran-backed Shiite paramilitary forces if the latter enters areas under its control, a Kurdish leader told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat in an interview.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, which groups Kurdish and Arab fighters, said they will never accept the presence of Iran and they will never under any circumstances act as a bridge between PMU and the Syrian regime.

On Tuesday, a US official said the United States has started sending arms to Kurdish forces to help them regain Al-Raqqa in Syria from ISIS.



Last Update: Wednesday, 31 May 2017 KSA 17:41 - GMT 14:41</s>A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander has said he would fight Iraqi Shia forces if they attempted to enter territory they controlled in Syria.

Speaking to the Kurdistan24 news site, Talal Silo said that the SDF would not allow the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMUs), also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, to come into their areas.

“If Hashd forces attempt to enter our areas, our forces [SDF] will fight them,” he said.

The SDF is a US-backed coalition of Kurdish-Arab forces, largely dominated by the pro-Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and its political wing the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

Although direct conflict has been rare, the SDF is officially opposed to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and some PMUs have entered into Syria to fight for Assad.

However, Silo's comments indicate the SDF would prevent the PMUs from using the section of the Syrian-Iraqi border they control as a means of deploying forces in Syria.

Silo's warning contrasts starkly with earlier comments made by the PYD representative in Iraqi Kurdistan, Gharib Hesso, who indicated that the PYD would be interested in allying with the PMUs in order to build a new "corridor" in Iraq to Baghdad in order to circumvent an embargo placed on YPG-controlled territory in northern Syria.

"Not only for rebuilding, but for the people, so they can live in calm, and there will be food, clothes, and can sell their oil. But if the road is closed, we will resist," he said, as reported by Middle East Eye.

"It would not only be good for Syria, but also for Iraq. The people in Mosul also have their families in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor. They can go to the border to help each other," he said.

"Maybe Turkey and the KDP will try to prevent this," he added, referring to the main party in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Both Turkey and the KDP see the PYD as being linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency in Turkey for decades.

The PMUs' move has alarmed the Trump administration. Some US officials fear that Iran would be further empowered by an Iranian corridor through Iraqi territory to Syria, as well as strengthening Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"They [in Washington] believe there is a corridor project which depends on the Hashd al-Shaabi that are close to Iran controlling the border points to facilitate overland transport via the Syrian desert to Palmyra and then to Assad's statelet," said Nicholas Heras, the Bacevich fellow at the Centre for a New American Security.

The statement from the SDF, however, would indicate they were not going to allow such a corridor to be constructed by the PMUs.

A US government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was an "issue we're watching closely and we're keenly aware of the evolving events in the ground and their potential ramifications".

"In Iraq we're supporting the government of Iraq to re-establish control over the entire country and securing the Iraqi border will naturally be a big part of that," he said.

The PMUs have also publicly come out in support of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a Yazidi militia based in Sinjar, which is also linked to the PKK. Turkey and KRG have been concerned about the possibility of Sinjar becoming a new hub for the PKK.

The YBS were at one point also considered to be part of the PMUs - and apparently are still considered as such by the PMUs - although unlike other PMUs they reportedly no longer receive funding from Baghdad.</s>#SYRIA: Only a few hours ago, head of SDF-allied unit said his forces were nearing the edge of Raqa city - via @AFP pic.twitter.com/AufT4VcHZj</s>The Jabar citadel on the banks of Lake Assad was taken by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance on Thursday, militia spokesman Talal Silo said. It is located near a dam on the Euphrates River that the U.S.-backed alliance also aims to capture in the current phase of its campaign.

Maamoun Abdulkarim, the Syrian government's antiquities chief, told Reuters in Damascus the SDF's capture of the castle represented a "victory for the Syrian people because liberating the citadel from Daesh (IS) is saving Syrian heritage".

The SDF, which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, is the main partner for the United States in the campaign it is leading against Islamic State in Syria. SDF forces are just a few kilometres (miles) from a major dam also held by IS.

Islamic State is also being fought in separate campaigns by the Russian-backed Syrian army in Deir al-Zor province and near the ancient town of Palmyra, which IS seized for a second time in December, and by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in Aleppo province near the Syrian-Turkish border.

Silo said SDF advances had been slowed by thick fog that had allowed Islamic State insurgents to use infiltration tactics to attack SDF positions, he said. The weather had now improved, he added in an interview over the internet.

"The direction of our forces is towards the area of the dam at present," Silo said.

The SDF launched a multi-stage operation in Raqqa province in November aimed ultimately at capturing the city from Islamic State. The first phase gained territory to the north of the city and the current phase is targeting areas to the west of it.</s>Although Islamic State does not have warplanes, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance wants shoulder-fired anti-aircraft systems to protect its forces from potential future enemies, spokesman Talal Silo told Reuters.

He declined to say who these could be, noting there was currently no armed confrontation between the SDF and the Syrian government and its Russian backers.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday Moscow regarded the U.S. policy change as a hostile act and a "direct threat to the Russian air force".

The Syrian government has been heavily backed in the war by Russian aircraft.

The SDF, backed by U.S. special forces in a campaign that has driven Islamic State from swathes of northern Syria, fights separately from the rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.

It is dominated by the Kurdish YPG militia, which has established a large self-governing area in northeast Syria.

The YPG has mostly avoided conflict with Syrian government forces, but Syrian warplanes carried out air strikes on the mostly Kurdish-controlled city of Hasaka in August.

Assad opposes a federal vision for Syria which Kurdish groups and their allies say should be the foundation for ending the war.

Neighbouring Turkey is also hostile to the YPG, fearing that expanding Kurdish influence in northern Syria will fuel separatist sentiment in Kurdish areas of southeast Turkey.

"Currently there are no planes targeting us but in the future they might, and on this basis we are asking for them," Silo said in an interview.

The SDF was the "number one" U.S. ally on the ground in Syria and should be the first to receive such weapons, he added.

Silo said the U.S.-led coalition had boosted military support to the SDF at the start of its latest campaign against Islamic State in Raqqa province, providing them with anti-armour weapons used against suicide car bombers.

Syrian rebel groups fighting Assad and his allies in western Syria have received U.S.-made anti-tank, or TOW, missiles, as part of an aid programme backed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The United States has however in the past declined requests from rebel groups for anti-aircraft missiles, fearing they could end up in the hands of Islamic State and other jihadist factions.</s>The US-led coalition and US-backed forces are on full alert over the collapse of ISIS in the Syrian province of Aleppo and the success of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) against the terrorist group at the Iraqi border with Syria.

The Kurdish Security Police of the Asayish held a meeting on Monday in Qamishli city to discuss the formation of a defence system ‘to confront the Iranian project’ that is allegedly supported by by the Syrian government. In other words, the Asayish is concerned that a part of the Syrian-Iraqi border was liberated from ISIS by the PMU.

The Asayish is a 15,000-strong force controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). At the same time, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) that are the core of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are military wings of the PYD. Thus, the Asayish statement could be considered as an official position of the PYD and the SDF.

Furthermore, the Asayish was involved in heavy clashes against the National Defense Forces and the Syrian Army in the city of Hasakah in August 2016. The Asayish was supported by the YPG and the US-led coalition.

The US-backed force has also increased its activity on the southern bank of Euphrates capturing the villages al-Mushayrifah, Bir Akhu Hadlah, Bir al-David and Bir Hajj al-Mufazi near Tabqah as well as the Baath Dam and the villages of Hawra, al-Barouda and al-Matiyura south of it. According to some experts, the SDF is aiming to reach the Resafa Crossroads in order to cut off the Salamiyah-Raqqah highway that links up the SAA-held city of Salamiyah with Raqqah, and to expand its presence near the N4 Highway in order to prevent the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) Tiger Forces from reaching the province of Raqqah.

The SDF advance followed a collapse of the ISIS defenses in the countryside of Maskanah and a failure of US-backed militant groups to counter government forces in southeastern Syria along the borders with Jordan and Iraq.

Thus, the US-led coalition may even decide to develop the SDF advance in the direction of Deir Ezzor in order to capture Deir Ezzor oil and gas fields on pretext of the battle against ISIS. However, this will be possible only if ISIS units deployed in Raqqah continue keep a defense attitude and avoid counter-attacking advancing SDF units.
• SDF VOWS TO PREVENT ANY CORRIDOR BETWEEN IRAN AND ‘SYRIAN REGIME’ – MEDIA
• Military Situation In Syria On May 31, 2017 (Map Update)
• US-BACKED MILITANTS RETREATING FROM MORE AREAS IN SOUTHEASTERN SYRIA – REPORTS</s>The US is now equipping Kurdish fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces with heavy machine guns, small arms and ammunition to battle Islamic State fighters near their stronghold of Raqqa, Syria.Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told RT that this move represents the "early steps to prepare for the eventual liberation of Raqqa," which the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has declared the capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate.US-ally Turkey has long opposed the arming Kurdish forces, which it considers to be outgrowths of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a designated terrorist group in both Turkey and the US.Amid reports of US delivering arms to the Kurdish-controlled northern Syrian city of Hasakah in recent weeks, Turkish President Recep Erdogan called the US decision "a mistake" and urged US authorities to "reverse it immediately."Pentagon spokesman Pahon told RT there were safeguards in place to prevent misuse of the weapons."Wherever possible, our advisors will monitor the use of the weapons and supplies we give the Kurdish elements of the SDF, ensuring use only against ISIS," he said. "Any alleged misuse or diversion of U.S. support will be taken seriously and lead to the possible curtailment of support, if verified."Pahon also said the "only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa" was the SDF, under the support of the US and its coalition.</s>Abu Jandal al-Kuwaiti, a member of Islamic State's war committee, was killed on Monday by the Tabqa Dam, a strategic objective in northern Syria near Raqqa city, the jihadists' main stronghold in the country, the spokesman said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, had reported on Tuesday his probable death in combat as the militants sought to stave off an advance towards the dam by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Islamic State has yet to confirm Kuwaiti's death.

Kuwaiti was involved in Islamic State's retaking of the ancient city of Palmyra earlier this month and then went to Tabqa to help shore up the jihadists' defences against the SDF, the coalition said.

"Abu Jandal was involved in the use of suicide vehicles, IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and chemical weapons against the SDF ... his death will degrade ISIL's ability to defend Raqqa and launch external operations against the West," the statement said.

The SDF alliance includes the Kurdish YPG militia and is supported by U.S.-led coalition air strikes in northern Syria in its fight against Islamic State.</s>(CNN) US-backed rebels said they "liberated" the strategic Syrian city of Tabqa and a nearby dam from ISIS .

Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of mainly Kurdish and Arab fighters, took the city on Wednesday, SDF spokesman Talal Silo said.

The push is part of Operation Euphrates Wrath, which is designed to seize control of key territory from ISIS.

US Air Force Col. John Dorrian -- the spokesman for the US-led coalition against ISIS called Operation Inherent Resolve -- earlier tweeted that almost all of the city has been seized and that fighters were clearing two neighborhoods.

After #Tabqah is completely liberated, the #SDF and coalition forces will continue operations to isolate and seize #Raqqah .

Raqqa is the latest major city targeted by coalition forces in their attempts to rid Iraq and Syria of the extremist group. The city, the militants' operational command headquarters, is now largely surrounded -- its main supply routes cut off by advancing forces.

The seizure of Tabqa and the nearby dam is a key stride toward taking Raqqa and grabbing key infrastructure away from the terror group..

During its control of Tabqa and a nearby airbase since 2014, ISIS released video footage of militants parading dozens of Syrian soldiers handcuffed through a desert in their underwear and then executing them.

The presence of Syrian Kurdish fighters on the battlefield could complicate the mission.

The People's Protection Units, or the YPG, is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The presence of the group has caused tension between NATO members the United States and Turkey and stoked concerns that differences over the aims and activities of the Kurdish fighters could undermine the battle against the Islamic State.

The United States sees the 50,000-strong Syrian Democratic Forces as the most effective force fighting ISIS in Syria and has armed the non-Kurdish Arab elements of that group for some time.

Syrian Kurds make up just over half of the SDF, according to the US military.

Ankara considers the YPG a terror threat to Turkey and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK -- a group that has waged an insurgency in southern Turkey.

The United States views the PKK and YPG as two separate groups. The arming of the YPG that has long been under consideration at the Pentagon but has been delayed due to strong opposition from Turkey.

Next week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is visiting Trump at the White House. Erdogan is expected to urge Washington to drop its support for those Kurdish forces.</s>U.S.-backed fighters on Tuesday reached the northern entrance of the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State group, amid intense clashes and airstrikes on Raqqa's northern and eastern edges, opposition activists said.

The latest push by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces brings them to about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the city where a long and deadly battle is expected in the coming weeks, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The latest push comes as airstrikes have intensified in recent days. U.S.-backed fighters have pushed in toward the city, getting closer from all sides. The SDF have captured dozens of towns and villages since November, when the group began an operation entitled Euphrates Wrath, aiming to eventually surround and capture Raqqa.

SDF fighters have surrounded Raqqa from the north, west and east. The extremists still have an exit from the south, even though the U.S.-led coalition destroyed southern two bridges over the Euphrates River.

The Observatory said SDF fighters captured gas and water facilities on the northern edge of Raqqa. The group posted a video showing IS black flags still flying over the northern entrance of Raqqa with a giant IS banner reading "the northern sector thanks you for your visit. The Islamic State."

The activist-operated Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently said that the U.S.-led coalition targeted areas of fighting north of the city near a major IS base known as Division 17.

The Sound and Picture Organization, which documents IS violations, said SDF fighters approached the Mashlab neighborhood east of Raqqa. The RBSS said SDF fighters captured a main checkpoint at the entrance of Mashlab but did not enter the area.

The Observatory and RBSS reported that a land mine exploded near a vehicle west of the city killing three people and wounding 10.

Earlier Tuesday, Syria's state media and the Observatory said at least 13 civilians were killed when IS militants shelled government-held neighborhoods in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour.

The official state news agency SANA says the shelling hit the neighborhoods of al-Joura and Qussour late on Monday. IS has controlled parts of Deir el-Zour since 2015, leaving more than 90,000 people under siege in the government-held areas.

The Observatory said the shelling took place shortly before sundown as residents were preparing to break their dawn-to-sunset fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The Observatory put the death toll at 14.
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) says they will counter Iraq’s mostly Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU) militants if the latter enters areas under SDF control, insisting that SDF will never accept the presence of Iran and SDF will never under any circumstances act as a bridge between PMU and the Syria's Assad regime.