For more than two weeks, Manbij Military Council (MMC) forces have been clashing with the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) around the city of Manbij (Minbîc). The MMC, which is part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has recently won significant victories in the area.
“Our forces successfully thwarted attacks by Turkish forces and their allied factions in the areas of Al-Atshanah and Al-Mastaha, south of Manbij, forcing the attackers to retreat,” the Council wrote in a press release.
In nearby Abu Qalqal, MMC members killed several SNA attackers, alongside destroying a tank and an armoured military vehicle.
Amid the heavy clashes, the MMC remain defiant. “We will continue to resist aggression and protect the people of Manbij from external threats,” their statement pledged.
A US-brokered ceasefire deal in Manbij in December was not honoured by either Turkey or the SNA. “Turkey […] violated the [previous] ceasefire agreement and Turkish aircraft did not stop bombing for a single moment” so “there is no serious discussion about the ceasefire with Turkey and violent battles continue between our forces and the forces of the Turkish state and its mercenaries,” said Siyamend Ali of the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG).
On 30 December, the Rojava Information Centre reported that SDF forces were just 14 km from the city centre of Manbij.
SNA shelling and Turkish drone strikes have also continued in the vicinity of the Qara Quzak (Qere Qozaq) Bridge.
Heavy fighting is ongoing in the area of the Tishreen (Tişrîn) Dam. SNA forces are trying to take the SDF-held dam, in preparation for an assault on the city of Kobani (Kobanê). However, US-led coalition forces entered the city of Kobani yesterday, and appear to be constructing a military base – in a move that could help halt the attack on the city.
On the night of Thursday 2 January, the SNA, together with Uzbek and Chechen fighters from the al-Qaeda-affiliated Guardians of Religion (Hurras al-Din), launched intense attacks on the Manbij countryside and the Tishreen Dam area. The SDF announced that they had successfully repelled these attacks.
However, the SDF has expressed concern that Turkish drone strikes could breach the dam, which has been damaged several times in the attacks.
