OF THE
TIMES
"The announced withdrawal of our American ally should not deflect us from our strategic objective to eradicate Daesh", Macron said on Thursday addressing the armed forces in the French city of Toulouse.The Syrian Baath Party told reporters Syria will not allow militants in Idlib or US troops at al-Tanf (who shelter militants there):
"It is absolutely not our fault that [militants] are here. Why should we tolerate their presence on our soil now? They can leave our territory and go to any other country ... These groups have two options: either to leave Syrian soil or face the power of the Syrian Arab army," Hilal said.As for the Manbij attack, the military council of Manbij claims that their antiterror squads detained a cell of seven militants, "members of opposition groups that participated in Operation 'Euphrates Anger' and were supported by Turkey, acting in concert with Turkish intelligence".
He also pointed out that Damascus would continue to demand the withdrawal of US troops from the At Tanf base, which, according to media reports, might retain a certain number of soldiers despite Washington's announced intent to withdraw its forces from the Arab Republic.
"Syria has a right to defend any part of the country from foreign occupation. Syrian President Bashar Assad has always said this. We believe that any foreign base created on Syrian soil without the consent of the president and the government of Syria represents an occupation and aggressive forces. Of course, we will fight the existence of such bases on our territory. I am speaking not only about the military bases, but also about people involved in these activities, armed formations and even states," Hilal said.
"They planned several explosions and acts similar to terrorist acts, following instructions directly from the 'Euphrates Anger' groups and Turkish intelligence," the press service added.
A large number of weapons and ammunition, including grenades, Kalashnikov assault rifles and M6 rifles were seized from the militants during the searches.
Could possibly be an 'inside job', from the Kurdish group, to separate Trump and Erdogan? If so, a bold move. Still, they have been in cahoots with US forces for sometime, so some of their tricks will rub off on them.