US-backed Kurdish forces propose 'demilitarised zone' near Syria-Turkey border

Damascus (The Uttam Hindu): The commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, has said that his forces are willing to propose a "demilitarised zone" in the border city of Kobani in the northern countryside of Aleppo. He made the remarks on Tuesday on the social media platform X, expressing SDF's readiness to establish a buffer area in Kobani, with the redeployment of security forces under US supervision and presence, Xinhua news agency reported. This move, he said, aims to "address Turkish security concerns and ensure lasting stability in the region".

In a separate statement, the SDF accused Turkey of preparing an offensive against Kobani, claiming that Turkish forces and allied fighters have massed heavy weapons near the city. The US-backed Kurdish forces have withdrawn from Manbij, a strategic city in northern Aleppo province that they had controlled since capturing it from Islamic State in 2016. Earlier on Tuesday, the US said it had brokered an extension of a ceasefire between pro-Turkish fighters and Syrian Kurds at the flashpoint town of Manbij and was seeking a broader understanding with Ankara. The announcement comes amid fears of an assault by Turkey on the Kurdish-held border town of Kobani, also known as Ain Al-Arab, a week after Turkish-supported Islamist rebels toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Manbij truce, which had recently expired, "is extended through the end of the week, and we will, obviously, look to see that ceasefire extended as far as possible into the future," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. In a statement earlier on Tuesday, the SDF had accused Ankara of plotting an attack on Kobane. "Turkey has mobilised large numbers of its forces and militias with heavy weaponry around Kobane," the statement said, adding that Ankara was "ready for an attack". Turkey accuses the main component of the SDF, the People's Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants at home, whom both Washington and Ankara consider a "terrorist" group. Turkey, citing concerns over Kurdish fighters near its southern border, has long expressed interest in pushing those forces away from frontier regions. Since 2016, Ankara has conducted several military operations in northern Syria, seizing extensive border territory.