Turkish operation undermines fight against ISIS – Mazloum Abdi
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Turkish ground operation would result in the resurgence of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS), said Mazloum Abdi, Commander in Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Friday.
In a statement to BBC news, Abdi said that the Turkish ground operation would lead to “a second civil war in Syria”, adding, “and our counter-terrorism operations against IS [ISIS] would stop.”
Since November 20, intense and wide spread aerial operation is being carried out by the Turkish forces against north and northeast Syria which has claimed tens of lives and destroyed facilities and infrastructure along the whole border strip from Aleppo northern countryside in the northwest up to Derik (al-Malikiyah) in the northeast.
Mazloum Abdi pointed out that “what Turkey is doing will undermine” all the efforts made by the SDF and the US-led Global Coalition to defeat ISIS.
The SDF runs and protects prisons and camps in northeast Syria that house ISIS militants and their families, the most prominent of which is Hawl Camp.
Abdi warned that any Turkish attacks would “directly impact his forces’ ability to keep hold of these sites [camps and prisons].”
“Our forces would be busy protecting our own people and families and we wouldn’t be able to guard the camps,” he stressed.
The Turkish airstrikes hit oil fields, the only gas installation, grain silos and power station in the countryside of the city of Qamishli, northeast Syria.
They also targeted a school and a hospital in the city of Kobani in northern Syria.
Abdi, also known as the General, added, “The Turkish authorities have targeted civilian facilities, services like power stations, and oil production facilities. This will lead to mass migration and internally displaced people.”
He indicated that his forces have fought “terrorism for eight years with the international community, “and now the attacks the Turkish state is carrying out are undermining all of that.”
“The consequences of this will be really bad not only for us but for the world,” the SDF Commander in Chief concluded.