U.S. Defies Turkey In Northern Syria

The United States-led Coalition intensified its operations in northern and eastern Syria in December, defying Turkey’s recent threats to Kurdish forces in the region.

Turkey lunched an air operation against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the coalition’s main proxy in northern and eastern Syria, and threatened the Kurdish group with a new ground invasion following the November 13 Istanbul bombing. Nevertheless, Washington stood along its proxy, pressuring its NATO ally, Ankara, into de-facto halting its operations in the two regions.

Instead of withdrawing from northern and eastern Syria, as Turkey hoped for, the U.S.-led coalition stepped up its operations there under the pretext of fighting ISIS.

On December 11, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that two senior officials of ISIS were killed during a successful helicopter raid in eastern Syria. The command said that one of the two officials, identified as Anas, held a senior position in ISIS Syria Province and was involved in the terrorist group’s “deadly plotting and facilitation operations” in the region.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the raid took place in the town of al-Zir in the southeastern countryside of Deir Ezzor and revealed that the SDF was involved.

Later on December 13, the U.S.-led coalition deployed additional heavy weapons, including M777 towed 155 mm howitzers and M2A3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, in its bases in northern Syria, which are mainly located at key gas and oil fields.

On December 14, the coalition went on to conduct its first patrol within Raqqa city more than three years after abandoning its bases in the governorate. Later on December 16, it was reported that the coalition is preparing to occupy the 17th Division base in the northern outskirt in the city. The next day, December 17, a patrol of the coalition was seen entering the abandoned Syrian military base.

On December 20, a U.S. drone strike hit a house in the Turkish-occupied town of al-Bab in the northern Aleppo countryside. A Yemeni national was severely wounded in the strike. Local sources said that the man, known as Abu Yasir, was an ISIS commander.

On the same day, the CENTCOM announced that its forces had conducted three helicopter raids in eastern Syria resulting in the detention of six ISIS operatives, including al-Zubaydi, a Syria Province senior official involved in the “planning and facilitation of ISIS attacks in the country.”

The U.S. appears to be trying to deter Turkey, while in the process using ISIS as a pretext to step up its operations and expand its presence in northern and eastern Syria. This will likely push the Turkish government towards more cooperation with Russia, and possibly the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad