PHOTO: Kurdish fighter with elderly residents of Manbij (Rodi Said/Reuters)


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Questions are arising over the future of the Kurdish position in northern Syria, days after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces forced the Islamic State out of the city of Manbij.

The SDF took full control of Manbij, ISIS’s main position in Aleppo Province, as the last ISIS fighters withdrew towards Jarablus on the Turkish border.

Manbij is largely populated by Arab residents. It and the near declared target of the SDF, the ISIS-occupied town of al-Bab to the southwest, are in the area of Aleppo Province between the largest Kurdish-held territory in northeastern Syria and the Afrin canton in the northwest.

Keen to show that the victory is welcomed by residents, the SDF put out videos and photographs of celebrating civilians, with men cutting their beards and women taking off burqas forced upon them by the ISIS rule.

However, sceptics expressed concern that the Kurdish Democratic Unity Party (PYD) and its YPG militia will try to join the Kurdish cantons in the northwest and the northeast, establishing a de facto Syrian Kurdistan across the north, by taking political and military control of the areas in Aleppo Province.

The Turkish Government, which has fought the insurgency of the Kurdish movement PKK — to which the PYD is allied — for decades, set out its worries on Monday.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it expects Syrian Kurdish fighters to withdraw not only from Manbij but to pull back east of the Euphrates River.

“Of course we have an expectation,” Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara. “The US promised that the [Syrian Kurdish] forces within the coalition and democratic forces there would move east of the Euphrates again following the Manbij operation.”

At the end of 2015, Ankara set out a “red line” at the Euphrates after the SDF — supported by US airstrikes, weapons, and special forces — advanced across northeast Syria in a series of victories over the Islamic State. However, after weeks of negotiations with the Americans, Turkey accepted the Manbij offensive, which began in May.

Meanwhile, clashes grew between the YPG and Syrian rebels in northwest Syria. With rebels also facing pro-Assad and Islamic State offensives, the YPG took opposition-held territory beyond the Afrin canton early this year, and fighting has continued in the Sheikh Maqsoud area in Aleppo city.

Last month, the opposition and rebels accused the YPG of helping a pro-Assad offensive take control of the last route into opposition-held parts of Aleppo, establishing a siege that was broken last week.

Encouraged by Turkey, the Free Syrian Army advanced against ISIS in northern Aleppo Province, capturing silos near the town of al-Rai on Monday.

Ankara is hoping that Syrian rebels, rather than the SDF, can take the border town of Jarablus from the Islamic State.

The Obama Administration sidestepped the tension on Monday. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said:

For the people of Manbij city, now begins the difficult job of rebuilding their homes and communities, and I call on all of our coalition partners to help them with that task.

For its part, the military coalition will continue to work with capable and motivated local forces to defeat ISIL and ensure it remains defeated.

A Pentagon spokesman, Captain Jeff Davis, said the US has commitments from the Kurdish leadership that local Arabs will rebuild the area.


Russian-Regime Bombing of Sports Halls

Syria Direct looks at another area of civilian life targeted by Russian-regime bombing, with an official in Idlib Province talking about attacks on sports halls.

Last Thursday, three airstrikes hit the Freedom Sports Hall, the largest in Idlib city, in the second attack on the facility in recent weeks.

The city’s Vice President of the General Commission for Sports and Youth says:

These were spaces for people from Idlib to forget about their worries. The regime is targeting all such facilities in Idlib to put more pressure on the people.

In the past, many people would come and watch tournaments and matches. But after the sports halls were targeted, most sports activities stopped.

This past year, we tried to revive sports culture and activities in Idlib. We have repaired the bombed-out sports halls on multiple occasions. But now, we can’t repair them since the bombing on the city is ongoing.


HRW: At Least 18 Russian-Regime Attacks With Incendiary Weapons in Last 6 Weeks

Human Rights Watch has issued a report documenting at least 18 Russian-regime airstrikes with incendiary weapons in the last six weeks.

HRW cited attacks between June 5 and August 10, including bombing of the cities of Aleppo and Idlib on August 7. Local activists, human rights organizations, first responders, and media organizations reported the use of incendiary weapons on at least 40 other occasions, but no photographs and video footage were available for conclusive verification.

Incendiary weapons are based on the chemical reaction of a flammable substance, causing excruciatingly painful burns that are difficult to treat. The weapons also start fires that are hard to extinguish.

An Idlib man said of one of the attacks on a residential area:

I saw with my own eyes two strikes, both “phosphorus” — blocks of flame were falling from the sky. After that, there was a strike with a missile carrying cluster bombs. It was tragic, buildings were on fire, rocks were on fire.

HRW called on a meeting about the Convention on Conventional Weapons, gathering in Geneva on August 29, to condemn the use of air-dropped incendiary weapons in civilian areas.


Despite Russian-Regime Bombing, Maternity Hospital Opens in Idlib Province

Syria Direct reports on a maternity hospital which has opened in Idlib Province in northwestern Syria, despite hundreds of Russian-regime attacks on medical facilities.

The Violet Maternity Hospital opened last month in a long-abandoned office building, amid apartments and outdoor markets. It is the only hospital in the area treating women, most of them pregnant, and children.

Noor Aode, the hospital’s communications director, insisted that the location not be disclosed:

The regime is absolutely deliberate in their bombing. [The regime and Russia] will destroy our critical infrastructure wherever and whenever possible. That means office buildings, that means schools, and that especially means hospitals.

Since June, “seven out of Idlib’s 10 major hospitals have been targeted”, Salim al-Khadr, a member of the Idlib Provincial Council, said on Monday.