Thousands of soldiers of the Turkish army belonging to the 7 ° Corps converge towards the border post of Akçale in the province of Sanliurfa between Turkey and Syria. The city, home of the 20a Mechanized Brigade, is located right on the border, a few hundred meters from the Syrian Tall Abyad, controlled by Kurdish militia.
Towards Tall Abyad are also converging columns of pro-merit militia coming from Jarablus. The militias would pass through Turkish territory, bypassing the Kurdish Kobane which is located right on the road parallel to the border with Turkey between Jarablus and Tall Abyad. Independent sources speak of hundreds of vehicles and armed men.
Jarablus is located immediately west of the Euphrates, 1 km from Turkey, with which there is no longer any solution of territorial continuity. Currently, at the border crossing of Karkamis (Turkish province of Gaziantep), instead of the flag of the Arab Republic of Syria, the tricolors of the Free Syrian Army, the rebels rearmed by Ankara active in northern Syria, wave.
The Turkish offensive has not yet started, but unofficial rumors speak of "imminent preparations". Matter of days.
The Turkish troops, equipped with important Corazzat departments, would attack in depth the territory controlled by the Kurds with whom the battle is now total.
According to Ankara, any offensive in Syrian territory (followed by Shield of the Euphrates of the 2016, now archived) would be a response to the continuous attacks of the Syrian Democratic Forces that only in the last two days (26 and 27 April, nda) would they attack 13 border posts between Syria and Turkey, destroying 5 Turkish tanks between Derassiye and Senyurt.
The Turks, for their part, thanks to the massive intervention of the air forces (read article), would have killed "dozens of militiamen" and destroyed "a series of armed vehicles".
The escalation between Turks and predominantly Kurdish forces (le SDF they are also composed of Arabs, nda) is creating havoc in the north-eastern front of Syria. Hundreds of Kurdish militiamen committed against ISIS on the Raqqa front (just 90 km away from the Turkish border) would be recalled to protect the rearguard and the posts near Turkey.
Not by chance at this time the offensive against the Islamic State on Tabqa and Raqqa would have been suspended, officially to allow the deminers to clear the liberated areas. In reality the continuous attacks of the Turkish fighters would have diverted the Kurdish forces, indirectly granting breath to the Caliphate militiamen.
The embarrassment of the United States is palpable. Both Turkey and the Kurds are close US allies. The enormous quantity of anti-tank weapons available to them SDF is the basis of the important successes achieved in a few hours against the Turkish armored troops; Added to this are the 6000 US soldiers engaged on Syrian territory alongside the Arab-Kurd militias.
As friction grows between Ankara and Washington, Damascus gloats. The war between ISIS, Turkey and Kurdish forces supported by America can only make fun.
(photo: Türk Kara Kuvvetleri)
