Turkish military reinforcements enter Syria and the Kurds warn of the consequences of the "new attack"

Mazloum Abdi, the commander-in-chief of the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces, warned of the consequences of any new attack by the Turkish army, which last night sent military reinforcements into Syria.

"We are concerned about new Turkish threats that pose a high risk in northern Syria," Abdi wrote on Twitter on Thursday. "Any attack will divide the Syrians, cause a new humanitarian crisis and displace the population."

Turkey has vowed to launch a new military incursion against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the main component of the Washington-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which controls large areas of northern Syria on the Turkish border.

Turkey classifies the Kurdish-led forces in Syria as terrorist groups and poses a threat to its national security.

On the other hand, the United States sees the Syrian Democratic Forces as an important partner that helped expel the Islamic State from large areas in Syria.

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Ankara plans to cleanse Tel Rifaat and Manbij in Syria of terrorists.

Washington expressed concern over any new attack in northern Syria, saying it would endanger US forces and undermine stability in the region.

The Syrian Democratic Forces are dominated by the Kurds and have US support (Reuters)

Frames and shells

The Turkish army sent large military reinforcements last night into Syrian territory through the Tal Abyad and Bab al-Salama crossings.

A military commander in the so-called National Army of the Syrian opposition said, "This evening, Wednesday, large military reinforcements belonging to the Turkish army entered the Bab al-Salama border crossing in the city of Azaz in the northern countryside of Aleppo."

He explained that these forces "goed to the Turkish bases, and another convoy entered the Tal Abyad crossing in the northern countryside of Raqqa, and headed to the areas south of Tal Abyad."

Local residents in the western Tal Abyad countryside reported that the Turkish army and the opposition factions fired dozens of shells at several villages west of Tal Abyad, which are under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

A doctor at Tal Abyad Hospital said, "4 people were killed and 7 others were wounded, including two in critical condition, and one of the injured was transferred to Turkish hospitals."

The Syrian Democratic Forces stated in a statement that "the intensity of the brutal Turkish bombardment, the increase in its duration and its focus on populated areas, as well as the use of civilian gatherings in the occupied areas as a cover for launching attacks, confirm the Turkish tendency to intimidate and displace more civilians."

It is noteworthy that Ankara has carried out 4 operations in northern Syria since 2016, seizing hundreds of kilometers of land, and those operations focused on a 30-kilometre wide strip, targeting mainly the Kurdish People's Protection Units.