Kurdish-led forces push back Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in a tense offensive

Kurdish-led SDF launches counter-offensive against Ankara-backed SNA near Syria's border, intensifying clashes post-Assad era.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Tuesday (December 24, 2024) that they have launched a counter-offensive against the Ankara-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkiye.

The SDF is Washington’s critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the extremist Islamic State group scattered across the country's east.

Since the fall of the totalitarian rule of Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, clashes have intensified between the U.S.-backed group and the SNA, which captured the key city of Manbij and the areas surrounding it.

The intense weekslong clashes come at a time when Syria, battered by over a decade of war and economic misery, negotiates its political future following half a century under the Assad dynasty’s rule.

Ruken Jamal, spokesperson of the Women’s Protection Unit, or YPJ, under the SDF, said that their fighters are just over seven miles away from the center of Manbij in their ongoing counter-offensive.

She accused Ankara of trying to weaken the group’s influence in negotiations over Syria’s political future through the SNA.

“Syria is now in a new phase, and discussions are underway about the future of the country,” Ms. Jamal said. “Turkiye is trying, through its attacks, to distract us with battles and exclude us from the negotiations in Damascus.”