CROWDED BATTLEFIELD
The battlefield is crowded in northern Syria, with the US, Russia, Iran and Türkiye all involved in the renewed fighting, underscoring the messy global politics at play.
On Monday, Iran said there would be a foreign ministers meeting with Turkey and Russia in Doha next weekend as part of a diplomatic process that had earlier been used to stabilise borders.
The SDF was the main Western-backed ground force in eastern Syria fighting Islamic State, which ran a jihadist mini-state there from 2014-17. Türkiye says the SDF’s main fighting force, the YPG, are Kurdish separatists it regards as terrorists and sent troops across the frontier in 2017 to push them back.
Rebel advances in recent days have dislodged the YPG from areas in and near Aleppo, including Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud district and a corridor around Tel Refaat to the north.
The SDF presence in northeast Syria along much of the border with Iraq also complicates supply lines for Iran-backed regional militia groups supporting Assad. On Monday Reuters reported that hundreds of Iran-backed Iraqi fighters had crossed the border into Syria to help government forces.
Israel has regularly struck Iran-backed forces in Syria. Hezbollah said an Israeli strike near Damascus on Tuesday killed one of its senior officers liaising with the Syrian military. Israel’s military said it does not comment on reports in foreign media.
