“Full control of the city established”: Syrian government forces occupy Manbij

The US military left their base in the vicinity of the Syrian city of Manbij, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. A statement from the agency said that US troops were heading towards the Syrian border with Iraq.

“US forces have left their bases in the areas of Dadat, located northwest of the city of Manbij, and Umm-Mial, descending towards the Syrian border with Iraq. Currently, Dadat and Umm-Mial are occupied by Syrian government forces, ”the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The agency said that the Russian military police continued to patrol the northwestern borders of Manbij County along the line of contact between the forces of Damascus and the armed forces of Turkey. It is noted that interaction with the Turkish side is organized.

According to a map published by the Russian Ministry of Defense with the alignment of forces in northern Syria, the government army of Damascus took control of 1030 square meters. km in the area of ​​Manbij. In addition, from these materials it follows that the Syrian army now controls the bank of the Euphrates River east of the city.

The withdrawal of American forces from Manbij was confirmed at the headquarters of Operation Unshakable Determination.

Coalition forces are executing a deliberate withdrawal from northeast Syria. We are out of Manbij. // تقوم قوات التحالف بتنفيذ إنسحاب مدروس من شمال شرق سوريا. لقد غادرنا منبج

“Coalition forces carry out an early withdrawal from northeast Syria. We left Manbij, ”the headquarters press service said on Twitter.

RT correspondent got to one of the bases abandoned by American forces southwest of Manbij and talked about the situation there. According to her, the object looks like American forces have just left it.

“We see that the base looks as if the US military had just left their homes and left the base in military vehicles. Over 15 units of American military equipment left the base, along with the military, weapons and ammunition, ”said Uafa Shabruni.

According to her, on the base that existed for about three years and was equipped after the liberation of the region from the forces of the Islamic State, everyday life items of the American military remained.

“Everything else has remained untouched, and we see the premises where the US military lived, food, kitchens, living quarters, as well as power transformers - everything this American military base was equipped with and equipped with,” the journalist said.

Recall, on October 9, Turkey launched the third military operation in the north of Syria, called the “Source of Peace”. Ankara claims that it is planned to destroy the militants of the Islamic State * and representatives of Kurdish groups whom Turkey considers to be terrorists as part of this campaign. We are talking about the "Workers Party of Kurdistan" and "Forces of Popular Self-Defense."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously stated that Ankara’s forces will not go to Syrian Manbij. According to the Turkish leader, “real Arab masters” will enter there, and the goal of Turkey is “to ensure their security”.

Note that the Ruptly video agency published a record that captures the moment the Syrian military convoy met with US soldiers changing their dispositions.

According to Nikita Danyuk, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University, the return of the Syrian government troops to Manbij is important not only from a strategic point of view, but also from the image point of view.

"Syria for the first time in recent years has demonstrated political will, it, firstly, was able to successfully negotiate with representatives of the Kurds, and we see that on fairly important and correct conditions," the expert suggested in an interview with RT.

He recalled that the Kurds were repeatedly invited to the negotiating table, but they tried, "being under the umbrella of the United States," to ignore these calls.

“The fact that Syria was able to occupy this city shows the willingness and determination of Damascus with the help of military force to set aside its territorial integrity,” the expert summed up.

Stabilization in Manbridge

In June 2018, Ankara and the United States approved a stabilization roadmap in Manbij, which in 2016 released Kurdish forces from the forces of the Islamic State. The document said that the Kurds should leave the city, because Turkey considers them terrorists. However, Damascus was opposed to the presence of Turkish and US forces in Manbij.

In December 2018, Syrian government forces took control of Manbij. Before this, the Kurdish People’s Self-Defense Forces left the city, suggesting that this move would protect Manbij from the Turkish invasion.

“We offer the Syrian government forces, which are obliged to protect the same country, people and borders, establish control over the areas from which our forces were withdrawn, in particular over Manbij, and protect these areas from Turkish invasion,” the People’s Squads website said. self defense.

In turn, Ankara then emphasized that the situation in the region remains uncertain, and called on the Kurdish forces to exercise restraint in their statements.

“YPG / PKK terrorists are not entitled to speak on behalf of the population of the occupied regions of Syria. YPG / PKK also has no right to invite other forces operating in Syria to the territories under its control, ”Anadolu quoted the Turkish Ministry of Defense.

Soon after these events, a terrorist attack occurred in Manbridge, in which four US citizens were killed, among whom were two military personnel, a Pentagon civilian employee and a contracted contractor. The responsibility for what happened took on the terrorists of the IG.

Commenting on the events surrounding Manbij, an expert at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Konstantin Blokhin noted the importance of this situation in terms of the settlement in Syria.

“We see that the Americans have already left Syria, now Syria is no longer the zone where the geopolitical tangle is colliding, as in the beginning, when more than ten states tried to lobby their policies there. Today, the policies of several states are visible in Syria: Syria, Turkey, Iran and Russia, ”the expert believes.

In his opinion, without the designation of zones of interest, a post-war device is impossible.

* “Islamic State” (IG) - the isation body was recognized as terrorist by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014