Global Coalition praises SDF important role in northern Syria

The Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) against the Islamic State (ISIS) has stressed the importance of the role played by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, in response to the Turkish president Erdogan’s recent statements.

Erdogan said that his country would launch a unilateral military operation against northern Syria if its forces are unable to control the proposed safe zone in the region.

“We no longer have patience with establishing the safe zone in the east of the Euphrates along our borders,” Erdogan said. “We will implement our own operation plans if our soldiers can’t control the zone in a few weeks,” he added.

The US-led Global Coalition forces (CJTF) said in a statement that over the past four months in conjunction with the SDF, they have captured more than 225 ISIS members and removed two tons of explosives from the battlefields in the past two months.

Maj. Gen. Eric T. Hill of the U.S. Air Forces and the Commanding General of Special Operations Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, said: “Our partners continue to carry out difficult operations to pursue ISIS relentlessly, and remove the future of its presence in northeastern Syria”. “The ongoing efforts of the SDF are critical for the safety and stability of the region”, Maj. Gen. Hill added.

“The SDF has recently supported the efforts of the US-Turkish agreement on the security mechanism, by removing the fortifications, YPG forces and heavy weapons from the Syrian-Turkish borders,” Maj. Gen. Hill said.

“Security challenges still await us, but our YPG partners are taking the right steps to support the region and ensure the permanent defeat of ISIS,” he said.

The United States, Turkey and the SDF had agreed on a “safe zone” from which the YPG will be withdraw, according to the statements of Ambassador James Jeffrey, the U.S. special envoy for Syria.

Reliable military sources revealed to North-Press that a delegation composed of the Global Coalition Command in North and East Syria and leaders of U.S. special forces responsible for implementing the security mechanism on the Syrian-Turkish borders, in addition to representatives of the U.S. State Department have met with the military councils’ officials in Sere-Kaniye (Ras Al-Ain) and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) in northern Syria during the last period.

According to the sources, the agreed details between the United States and Turkey were discussed and approved by the SDF General Command and were disclosed to both military councils.

According to the Global Coalition command in north and eastern Syria, the SDF is a main party in the US-Turkish agreement regarding the security mechanism through which stability in the region will be maintained after the removal of the Islamic State group (ISIS).

The coalition leadership confirmed that the partnership and cooperation between the coalition forces and the SDF would continue in this region.