ANKARA/WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s declaration in a phone call with Tayyip Erdogan that he was pulling US troops from Syria has stunned Turkey and left it scrambling to respond to the changing battlefield on its southern border.

In the phone call two weeks ago, Trump had been expected to deliver a standard warning to the Turkish president over his plan to launch a cross-border attack targeting US-backed Kurdish forces in northeast Syria, US officials say.

Instead, during the conversation Trump reshaped US policy in the Middle East, abandoning a quarter of Syrian territory and handing Ankara the job of finishing off Islamic State in Syria.

“Trump asked: ‘If we withdraw our soldiers, can you clean up Isis?’”, a Turkish official told Reuters. He said Erdogan replied that Turkish forces were up to the task.

“Then you do it,” Trump told him abruptly. To his national security adviser John Bolton, also on the call, Trump said: “Start work for the withdrawal of US troops from Syria.”

“I have to say it was an unexpected decision. The word ‘surprise’ is too weak to describe the situation,” said the official, one of five Turkish sources who spoke to Reuters about the 14 December call between the two leaders.

Trump’s decision was also a shock in Washington, where senior administration officials, including Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis, tried for days to change the president’s mind, US officials said. When Trump made clear he would not back down, Mattis and a senior official coordinating the fight against Islamic State, Brett McGurk, both resigned.

On a visit to a US air base in Iraq this week, Trump said that military commanders had repeatedly requested extensions for the 2,000 US troops in Syria - requests that he finally turned down because he said Islamic State was largely beaten.

“We’ve knocked them silly. I will tell you I’ve had some very good talks with President Erdogan who wants to knock them out also, and he’ll do it,” he told American troops.

Ankara has complained bitterly for years that the United States, a Nato ally, had chosen the Kurdish YPG militia as its main partner on the ground in Syria against Islamic State.

Turkey says the YPG is a terrorist group, inseparable from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged an insurgency in southeast Turkey in which 40,000 people have been killed.

The US withdrawal potentially frees Turkey’s military to push the YPG back from 500km of the border without risking a confrontation with American forces. It also removes the main cause of this year’s diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

But it also opens up an area of Syria far larger than anything Turkey had expected to fill, potentially pitting it against not just Kurdish forces but also the Damascus government - which is committed to regaining control of all of Syria - and its Russian and Iranian backers.

The YPG on Friday asked the Syrian government to take over the town of Manbij, which the Kurdish militia currently controls with US support, to protect it from Turkish attack.

And if Turkish forces are to take on Islamic State in its last pocket of Syrian territory near the Iraqi border, they would first have to cross 250km of territory controlled by the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces.

“Erdogan got more than he bargained for,” said Soner Cagaptay, Director of the Turkish Program at the Washington Institute. “He had asked the US to drop the YPG, but not withdraw from Syria”.

Erdogan has for years backed rebels who once hoped to topple Bashar al-Assad, but the Syrian president’s survival has been assured by support from Tehran and Moscow even though the north and east - including Syrian oilfields - remain beyond Assad’s control for now.

As it takes stock of the new challenge, Turkey is launching intensive talks with Washington and Moscow. Ankara expects US military officials to visit within days, as well as Bolton and possibly the US special Syria envoy, James Jeffrey.

Turkey’s intelligence chief and defence and foreign ministers are also due in Moscow on Saturday, the spokesman for Erdogan’s AK Party said.

“Of course it will be difficult. The whole issue needs to be planned again from the start,” a Turkish security official said.

A US official said military planners were drafting plans that could see a withdrawal over the course of several months. One of the proposals under consideration is a 120-day withdrawal period, according to a person familiar with discussions.

Washington is also grappling with what to do with weapons it provided to the YPG militia and promised to take back after the campaign against Islamic State ended.

Turkey says the weapons must be collected so they are not used against Turkish troops, but US officials say they cannot disarm their own allies when the fight is not yet over.

Erdogan announced last week Turkey is postponing its planned military operation against the YPG in light of Trump’s decision.

The Turkish military has already carried out two incursions into northern Syria, backed by pro-Turkey Syrian rebels. In 2016 they targeted Islamic State and Kurdish fighters, and earlier this year took control of the YPG-held Afrin region.

But Ankara and its Syrian rebel allies alone do not have the capacity to take over the whole region which the United States is abandoning, Cagaptay said. Turkey’s priority, therefore, may be to secure its southern frontier.

“Distancing the YPG from the border and wiping out these elements is of critical importance,” the security official said.

He stressed the need for careful coordination over who should fill other areas which departing US forces will leave and warned of problems ahead if an agreement could not be reached.

“Is it a big victory for Turkey?” another official said. “I’m not sure right now.”</s>ANKARA/WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - President Donald Trump's declaration in a phone call with Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he was pulling US troops from Syria has stunned Turkey and left it scrambling to respond to the changing battlefield on its southern border.

In the phone call two weeks ago, Trump had been expected to deliver a standard warning to the Turkish President over his plan to launch a cross-border attack targeting US-backed Kurdish forces in north-east Syria, US officials say.

Instead, in the course of the conversation Trump reshaped US policy in the Middle East, abandoning a quarter of Syrian territory and handing Ankara the job of finishing off the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Syria.

"Trump asked: 'If we withdraw our soldiers, can you clean up ISIS?'," a Turkish official told Reuters. He said Erdogan replied that Turkish forces were up to the task.

"Then you do it," Trump told him abruptly. To his national security adviser John Bolton, also on the call, Trump said: "Start work for the withdrawal of US troops from Syria."

"I have to say it was an unexpected decision. The word 'surprise' is too weak to describe the situation," said the official, one of five Turkish sources who spoke to Reuters about the Dec 14 call between the two leaders.

Trump's decision was also a shock in Washington, where senior administration officials, including Secretary of Defence James Mattis, tried for days to change the President's mind, US officials said. When Trump made clear he would not back down, Mattis and a senior official coordinating the fight against ISIS militants, Brett McGurk, both resigned.

On a visit to a US air base in Iraq this week, Trump said that military commanders had repeatedly requested extensions for the 2,000 US troops in Syria - requests that he finally turned down because he said ISIS was largely beaten.

"We've knocked them silly. I will tell you I've had some very good talks with President Erdogan who wants to knock them out also, and he'll do it," he told American troops.

Ankara has complained bitterly for years that the United States, a Nato ally, had chosen the Kurdish YPG militia as its main partner on the ground in Syria against ISIS.

Turkey says the YPG is a terrorist group, inseparable from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged an insurgency in south-east Turkey in which 40,000 people have been killed.

The US withdrawal potentially frees Turkey's military to push the YPG back from 500km of border without risking a confrontation with American forces. It also removes a main cause of this year's diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

But it also opens up an area of Syria far larger than anything Turkey had expected to fill, potentially pitting it against not just Kurdish forces but also the Damascus government - which is committed to regaining control of all of Syria - and its Russian and Iranian backers.

The YPG on Friday asked the Syrian government to take over the town of Manbij, which the Kurdish militia currently controls with US support, to protect it from Turkish attack.

And if Turkish forces are to take on ISIS in its last pocket of Syrian territory near the Iraqi border, they would first have to cross 250km of territory controlled by the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces.

"Erdogan got more than he bargained for," said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Programme at the Washington Institute. "He had asked the US to drop the YPG, but not withdraw from Syria."

Erdogan has for years backed rebels who once hoped to topple Bashar al-Assad, but the Syrian President's survival has been assured by support from Teheran and Moscow even though the north and east - including Syrian oilfields - remain beyond Assad's control for now.

As it takes stock of the new challenge, Turkey is launching intensive talks with Washington and Moscow. Ankara expects US military officials to visit within days, as well as Bolton and possibly the US special Syria envoy, James Jeffrey.

Turkey's intelligence chief and defence and foreign ministers are also due in Moscow on Saturday (Dec 29), the spokesman for Erdogan's AK Party said.

"Of course it will be difficult. The whole issue needs to be planned again from the start," a Turkish security official said.

A US official said military planners were drafting plans that could see a withdrawal over the course of several months. One of the proposals under consideration is a 120-day withdrawal period, according to a person familiar with discussions.

Washington is also grappling with what to do with weapons it provided to the YPG militia and promised to take back after the campaign against ISIS ended.

Turkey says the weapons must be collected so they are not used against Turkish troops, but US officials say they cannot disarm their own allies when the fight is not yet over.

Erdogan announced last week Turkey is postponing its planned military operation against the YPG in the light of Trump's decision.

The Turkish military has already carried out two incursions into north Syria, backed by pro-Turkey Syrian rebels. In 2016, it targeted ISIS and Kurdish fighters, and earlier this year took control of the YPG-held Afrin region.

But Ankara and its Syrian rebel allies alone do not have the capacity to take over the whole region which the United States is abandoning, Cagaptay said. Turkey's priority therefore may be to secure its southern frontier.

"Distancing the YPG from the border and wiping out these elements is of critical importance," the security official said.

He stressed the need for careful coordination over who should fill other areas which departing US forces will leave, and warned of problems ahead if agreement could not be reached.

"Is it a big victory for Turkey?" another official said. "I'm not sure right now."</s>BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army deployed forces near Manbij in northern Syria on Friday, a war monitor and a U.S. official said, after the Kurdish YPG militia urged Damascus to protect the town, where U.S. forces operate, from the threat of a Turkish offensive.

A Turkish-backed Syrian rebel rides on a truck with a mounted weapon at Manbij countryside, Syria December 28, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Manbij, which U.S.-backed forces captured from Islamic State in 2016, has emerged as a focal point of new tensions after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces whose presence has effectively deterred Turkey.

After a Syrian army announcement declaring government troops had entered Manbij, Turkey-backed Syrian rebels stationed in nearby territory said they had begun moving together with Turkish forces toward the town in readiness for “the start of military operations to liberate” it.

A witness said convoys of Turkey-backed insurgents, with armored vehicles and machine guns, were moving toward the frontline with the town.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said the Syrian government forces had entered a strip of territory at the edge of Manbij, not inside the town itself, creating a barrier with Turkey-backed fighters nearby.

Manbij, where U.S. troops have a military base, is held by a local militia allied to the YPG which Turkey deems a security threat.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters that U.S. troops had not changed their positions in Manbij and dozens still remained. The official said they had not seen Syrian military forces inside Manbij but rather on the outskirts of the city.

The U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State said that “despite incorrect information about changes to military forces in the city of Manbij, Syria, (the coalition) has seen no indication that these claims are true”.

Related Coverage Erdogan says Turkey has no business in Syria's Manbij if YPG militia leaves

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who has vowed to crush the YPG, said Turkish officials would visit Russia - Assad’s most powerful ally - on Saturday and discuss Syria. He indicated Turkey was not in a hurry to launch an offensive.

Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw troops from Syria has alarmed the Kurdish-led fighters who have fought Islamic State alongside them for years.

Kurdish leaders are scrambling for a strategy to protect their region stretching across the north and east, where the presence of some 2,000 U.S. troops has so far deterred Turkey.

A deployment of Syrian government forces, backed by Russia, would complicate any offensive by Turkey and its Syrian rebel proxies.

U.S. military support for the Kurdish fighters has infuriated Turkey, which sees the YPG as an extension of the PKK movement that has been waging an insurgency inside Turkey for decades.

Syrian state media circulated a video showing dozens of soldiers marching on a countryside road, chanting for President Bashar al-Assad. The military statement said troops had raised the national flag in Manbij on Friday and would guarantee security “for all Syrian citizens and others present.”

A resident inside the town said nothing had changed and he had not seen any such flags.

The YPG said on Friday its fighters had withdrawn from Manbij before to fight Islamic State elsewhere.

Slideshow (5 Images)

“We invite the Syrian government, to which we belong, as people, land and borders, to send its armed forces to take over these positions and protect Manbij in the face of Turkish threats,” it said.

In November, Turkish and U.S. troops began joint patrols near Manbij after reaching a deal that includes the YPG exiting the town.</s>The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia called on the government of President Bashar al-Assad on Friday to take control of Manbij to protect the town from the threat of Turkish attacks.

BEIRUT: The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia called on the government of President Bashar al-Assad on Friday to take control of Manbij to protect the town from the threat of Turkish attacks.

The YPG, which Turkey regards as a terrorist group and has vowed to crush, said its fighters had previously withdrawn from Manbij to fight Islamic State militants in eastern Syria.

"So we invite the Syrian government which we belong to... to send its armed forces to take over these positions and protect Manbij in the face of Turkish threats," the YPG statement said.</s>Syrian Army Amasses Outside Kurdish-Held Manbij, As Turkish Force Looms Over Border

Syria's army is grouping at the outskirts of Manbij, a hotly contested town near the Turkish border, in a move that is apparently coordinated with the pending withdrawal of Kurdish militants who have long held the city.

The news comes after initial media reports suggested that for the first time in six years, Syrian troops had taken control of the northern city. Manbij is occupied by both the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG and American troops.

The maneuvers come in the wake of President Trump's decision to withdraw the 2,200 U.S. troops in Syria — a move that puts in peril the Kurdish forces that have been fighting alongside the U.S. against ISIS.

The Turks have opposed Kurdish control of Manbij because of links between the Syrian Kurds and Kurdish militants who stage attacks in Turkey. Turkey has been threatening to attack Manbij, and the Kurds are likely seeking the help of the Syrian government to prevent that.

For now, it looks like this is all part of ongoing negotiations between the Kurds and Syrian officials — possibly for when the U.S. does pull out.

"U.S. forces have not pulled out," a U.S. military official told NPR on Friday.

"Despite incorrect information about changes to military forces in the city of Manbij," the U.S.-led International Coalition for Operation Inherent Resolve said, it "has seen no indication that these claims are true."

Hinting at the sensitivity of this process, the military's statement added, "We call on everyone to respect the integrity of Manbij and the safety of its citizens."

This morning, the official Kurdish YPG twitter account tweeted: "We invite the Syrian government forces to assert control over the areas our forces have withdrawn from, in particular Manbij, and to protect these areas against a Turkish invasion."

NPR has spoken with three sources – two Syrian aid workers and one local journalist – who are in Manbij. All of them report that Syrian army troops have not entered the town, saying that while government troops have moved up to the borders with Manbij, they have not entered the city.

Manbij is located about 10 miles south of the Turkish border, west of the Euphrates River. It's on the edge of a swath of northeastern Syria that Kurds have controlled during the country's long and devastating civil war.

In anticipation of the Syrian force's arrival at the city, videos were posted on pro-regime websites in recent days that showed troops moving up toward Manbij. And on Friday morning, a Syrian army officer posted a video statement saying the Syrian regime is "taking back rightful territories."

A source with ties to the Manbij Military Council, who asked not to be named as he does not have authorization to speak with the media, says there "are some negotiations that are ongoing" with the Syrian regime.

Earlier this week, reports emerged that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had taken up positions in a village near Manbij — and that Turkey's military had been massing tanks and troops just across the border to the north.

The new developments follow President Trump's order for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria — a force that's concentrated near the Turkish border.

Trump's surprise announcement came days after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan threatened to send his military into Manbij if the U.S. didn't convince the Kurdish YPG to withdraw.

Erdogan's government deems the YPG to be a terrorist group, with ties to Kurdish separatists in Turkey. And with a Turkish force gathering north of the border, many in the U.S. and elsewhere have been concerned that there might be a repeat of a Turkish incursion from March, when its forces ousted YPG fighters from the Syrian city of Afrin.</s>The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia called on the government of President Bashar al-Assad on Friday to take control of Manbij to protect the town from the threat of Turkish attacks.

BEIRUT: The Syrian army said it had deployed forces to Manbij in northwest Syria on Friday, after the Kurdish YPG militia urged Damascus to protect the town from the threat of Turkish attacks.

A resident said the forces had not entered the town, where U.S. troops operate and have a military base. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said the government forces were stationed out the outskirts, between the town and territory under Turkish influence.

U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to withdraw troops from Syria has alarmed the Kurdish-led fighters who have fought Islamic State alongside them for years.

Kurdish leaders are scrambling for a strategy to protect their region stretching across the north and east, where the presence of some 2,000 U.S. troops has so far deterred an incursion by Turkey, which deems the YPG a threat to its own territory and has vowed to crush it.

A deployment of government forces, backed by Russia, is likely to have a similar effect.

With the YPG at its forefront, the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance (SDF) seized Manbij in 2016 from Islamic State, a milestone in the U.S.-backed battle against the jihadists.

The town is held by the Manbij Military Council, fighters allied to the SDF, and abuts territory held by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels who have been mobilising for an assault.

U.S. military support for the Kurdish fighters has infuriated Turkey, a fellow member of the NATO alliance, which sees the YPG as an extension of the PKK movement that has been waging an insurgency inside Turkey for decades.

A Turkish-backed rebel official said the plan to attack SDF territory remained in force. "There is no Syrian soldier inside Manbij town from the regime's forces," said Major Youssef Hamoud, spokesman for the National Army rebel force.

He said his forces were waiting for Washington and Ankara to agree on how U.S. forces would leave Manbij.

The Syrian military statement said troops had raised the national flag in Manbij on Friday and would guarantee security "for all Syrian citizens and others present."

The resident inside the town said nothing had changed and he had not seen any such flags.

The YPG says its fighters previously withdrew from Manbij to fight Islamic State jihadists in eastern Syria.

"So we invite the Syrian government, to which we belong, ... to send its armed forces to take over these positions and protect Manbij in the face of Turkish threats," it said on Friday.</s>BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army said it entered Manbij on Friday for the first time in years, after the Kurdish YPG milita urged Damascus to protect the town from the threat of Turkish attacks.

It was unclear whether the government forces had spread out in the town, where U.S. forces operate and have a military base.

With the YPG at its forefront, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seized Manbij in 2016 from Islamic State, a milestone in the U.S.-backed battle against the jihadists.

The Manbij Military Council, fighters allied to the SDF, hold the town in northern Syria, which lies on a front with Turkey-backed rebels. Ankara deems the Kurdish YPG fighters a threat and has vowed to crush them.

The Syrian army said in its statement on Friday that its troops had raised the national flag in Manbij and would guarantee security “for all Syrian citizens and others present in the area”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the troops had deployed only along the edges of Manbij, standing between the town and Turkey’s rebel allies.

President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to pull out some 2,000 U.S. troops, whose presence has deterred Turkey, has alarmed the SDF, which controls much of northern and eastern Syria.

The YPG says its fighters previously withdrew from Manbij to fight Islamic State jihadists in eastern Syria.

“So we invite the Syrian government which we belong to...to send its armed forces to take over these positions and protect Manbij in the face of Turkish threats,” it said on Friday.</s>Even as regional forces race to position themselves for the imminent withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, U.S. military officials caution nothing on the ground has changed yet.

The U.S. on Friday dismissed claims Syrian forces were taking control of the northeastern city of Manbij, a key flashpoint between U.S.-backed Kurdish militias and Turkey, at the request of the Syrian Kurds.

In a statement, the Syrian army said its troops were taking up key positions, adding it "guarantees full security for all Syrian citizens and others present."

But the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State terror group responded on Twitter, saying it "has seen no indication that these claims are true."

"We call on everyone to respect the integrity of Manbij and the safety of its citizens," the coalition added.

US troops still in Syria 

 

 A U.S. defense official also told VOA dozens of U.S. forces that had been based just outside Manbij had not moved.

"We still have troops there," the official said, cautioning the U.S. remains focused on the safe and orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria.

Fearing a Turkish invasion, Kurdish forces have been reaching out to Syria and Russia, going as far as to invite Syrian government forces to take over the area via Twitter.

Yet despite extending the invitation, Syrian Kurdish officials confirmed U.S. troops had yet to leave Manbij, and that Syrian forces had massed only in some areas on the outskirts of the city.

"The situation is stable for now," Badran Chiya, a Syrian Kurdish adviser, told VOA's Kurdish service Friday. "The daily life of the people continues normally. There is no tension."

Manbij, located along the Syrian border with Turkey, has been a flashpoint between the YPG, the main Syrian Kurdish militia and a key component of the U.S.-backed force fighting IS, and Turkey. Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist organization with links to Kurds in Turkey.

In June, the United States brokered a deal with Turkey that called for the YPG to withdraw from Manbij, which would be protected by joint U.S.-Turkish patrols. But Turkey has accused the U.S. and the Kurds of failing to meet their commitments, and has been threatening to clear the YPG from the area itself.

No plans to move on Manbij 

 

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that, at least for now, his forces had no plans to move on Manbij itself. 

 

 "We are still supporting the integrity of Syrian soil. These areas belong to Syria," Erdogan told reporters following Friday prayers in Istanbul. "Once the terrorist organizations leave the area, we will have nothing left to do there."

But he said Turkish forces were still prepared to move into Syria, if necessary.

"It's not just about Manbij. We are aiming to wipe out all terrorist organizations in the region. Our main target is that the YPG takes the necessary lesson here," Erdogan added.

Despite Erdogan's comments, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels said Friday that they were continuing to advance on Manbij with Turkish forces and fight if needed "to start military operations to liberate" the city.

Russia, which has been seeking to broker an agreement on Manbij between Syria and the Kurdish militias that have been holding the city, welcomed the developments.

WATCH: US Withdrawal From Syria Prompts Calls for Arabs to Embrace Damascus

Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov called the presence of Syrian forces in the city a "positive step."

Still, Moscow is also asking for more information from the U.S. and President Donald Trump regarding how and when U.S. forces will be withdrawn from Syria.

Following a meeting Friday in Moscow with Jordan's foreign minister, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters that Russia wants "concrete explanations" from the U.S.

"It appears that Washington wants to shift the responsibility," Lavrov said.

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton is expected to travel to Turkey later next week, announcing the trip on Twitter:

Friday's flurry of activity came as key regional players prepared for the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country, a move announced just last week by Trump.

"Everybody is negotiating; the Russians are in the middle of it and clearly the Americans are, too," Joshua Landis, who heads the Middle East department at the University of Oklahoma, told VOA.

"The Syrian army doesn't want to get into a clash with Turkey. That would be a losing proposition. Neither does the YPG or anyone else," Landis added.

The U.S. has about 2,000 troops in Syria to fight the Islamic State terror group.

During a visit with U.S. troops in Iraq on Wednesday, Trump defended his decision to pull them out, declaring IS's self-declared caliphate defeated. 

 

 "I think a lot of people are going to come around to my way of thinking," he said. "Our presence in Syria was not open-ended and it was never intended to be permanent." 

 

 VOA's Kurdish service and Ed Yeranian contributed to this report.</s>The Syrian army entered Manbij for the first time in six years on Friday, after the Kurdish YPG milita urged the government to protect the city from the threat of Turkish attacks.

A Syrian army spokesman said in a televised statement that the national flag was raised in Manbij, a key northern city about 19 miles from the Turkish border.

The spokesman said the government would guarantee security 'for all Syrian citizens and others present in the area'.

The Kurds were left exposed last week when their key ally, the U.S, suddenly pledged to pull out its own troops.

The People's Protection Units (YPG) then asked for the Assad regime's help to face a threatened Turkish offensive.

The YPG, the main Kurdish militia in Syria, asked government forces to deploy in Manbij, an area it withdrew from earlier this year to fight Islamic State jihadists in eastern Syria.

'We invite the Syrian government forces... to assert control over the areas our forces have withdrawn from, in particularly Manbij, and to protect these areas against a Turkish invasion,' the statement said.

It was unclear whether the government forces had spread out in the town, where U.S. forces operate and have a military base.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the troops had deployed only along the edges of Manbij, standing between the town and Turkey's rebel allies.

With the YPG at its forefront, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seized Manbij in 2016 from Islamic State, a milestone in the U.S.-backed battle against the jihadists.

The Manbij Military Council, fighters allied to the SDF, hold the town in northern Syria, which lies on a front with Turkey-backed rebels.

President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to pull out some 2,000 U.S. troops, whose presence has deterred Turkey, has alarmed the SDF.

Turkey deems the Kurdish fighters a threat and has vowed to crush them.

Pro-Assad forces and Kurdish-led forces have fought each other elsewhere in Syria and the government opposes the Kurds' demands for autonomy. However, they have a common enemy and a mutual interest in blocking Turkish advances.

The announcement that government troops had entered Manbij was quickly welcomed by the Kremlin, whose spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it a 'positive step' that could help stabilize the situation.</s>BEIRUT (AP) - The Latest on developments related to Syria (all times local):

A senior Syrian Kurdish official says Syrian government troops have arrived at the front lines of the flash-point town of Manbij but have not taken over the city, and U.S. troops based outside it have not withdrawn.

Ilham Ahmed said an agreement was being worked out with the Russians and the Syrian government that in case of a full U.S. withdrawal, government troops would take over.

The Syrian government has announced it has seized control of the town.

"The aim is to ward off a Turkish offensive," Ahmed said. "If the Turks' excuse is the (Kurdish militia), so they leave their posts to the government."

Ahmed said the Kurdish militiaremain inside the city.

The Kremlin has welcomed the Syrian military's entry into the flash-point Kurdish-held town where Turkey has threatened an offensive.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday described the development as a "positive step" that could help "stabilize the situation."

The Syrian army entered the town of Manbij on Friday after the main Syrian Kurdish militia invited the government to seize control of it to prevent an attack from Turkey. The Syrian military said it was responding to calls from the town's residents and promised safety for all living there.

The Syrian entry into Manbij comes a day before Moscow is to host top Turkish officials to discuss the crisis in Syria after the United States announced it will withdraw its troops from the country.

The main Syrian Kurdish militia has invited government troops to take control of the flashpoint northern town of Manbij to prevent a Turkish attack.

The People's Protection Units, or YPG, made the appeal Friday in a tweet. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is reporting that Syrian government forces have been massing on the edges of Manbij, a front line between Kurdish-led forces and Turkey-backed fighters to the west.

It is not yet clear whether U.S. troops, which had patrolled the area, remain in place or have withdrawn. There was no immediate response from the U.S-led coalition.

Turkey had threatened a military operation against Manbij to remove the Kurdish-led forces there. Turkey views the YPG as a terrorist group.

The threats triggered the U.S. announcement of withdrawing troops from Syria.
The Kurdish YPG calls on Syrian government troops to protect Manbij against what it calls a "Turkish invasion".