© Associated Press / Syrian Democratic Forces
The United States is concerned as Syrian Democratic Forces abandon their posts with the US-led coalition fighting Daesh* terrorist group to instead focus on operations in Syria's border district of Afrin, Department of State Spokesperson Heather Nauert said during a press briefing.
"We have seen as the situation in Afrin has taken hold that some of those SDF forces ... have started to leave their work with coalition partners, the fight against ISIS, and head over to Afrin to handle those types of issues," Nauert said on Thursday. "That takes the eye off the ball on ISIS. It's a concern of ours."
Nauert underscored that the
SDF has been a tremendous and valuable fighting force in the fight against Daesh.
The SDF said in a statement on Tuesday that they had decided to send fighters to the Afrin region to help the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia there fight the Turkish army.
On January 20, the Turkish Armed Forces launched an operation against Kurdish forces in
Afrin, an area in northern Syria controlled by the US-backed YPG, which is considered by Ankara to be an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization in Turkey and several other countries. Damascus has strongly condemned Ankara's actions, with the Syrian Foreign Ministry calling them a violation of the country's sovereignty.
Comment: Further reading:
Pentagon admits it has 'lost control' of Kurdish proxy force in Northern Syria
The US has admitted being faced with large scale desertions of its SDF proxy force in north-eastern Syria and has had no choice but to admit to an "operational pause" in ground activities in regions east of the Euphrates. This is due to Kurdish fighters who had fought under the SDF flag, leaving their posts in US occupied territory to travel west to the Afrin region in order to fight with their brethren against Turkish forces conducting Operation Olive Branch against YPG/PKK targets. Far from being an altruistic force, the Kurdish militants simply think that at this point in time, they have more to strategically gain by playing Turkey against Syria in Afrin than by cooperating with the US in its "mission guard the oil fields" in eastern Syria.
Comment: Further reading: Pentagon admits it has 'lost control' of Kurdish proxy force in Northern Syria