Manbij

Turkish, U.S. and Russian chiefs of military staff meet in southern Turkey to discuss developments in Syria and Iraq. The meeting comes amid renewed Turkish threats to hit U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish targets in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, March 7, 2017. (Turkish Military via AP)
After capturing the Syrian city of al-Bab from ISIS, Turkish officials made it clear that the next military target was the city of Manbij, along the Euphrates River. Manbij was captured last year from ISIS by the Kurdish YPG, with considerable US military support.

(ANTIWAR) After capturing the Syrian city of al-Bab from ISIS, Turkish officials made it clear that the next military target was the city of Manbij, along the Euphrates River. Manbij was captured last year from ISIS by the Kurdish YPG, with considerable US military support.

In an extraordinary twist illustrating the fantastic complexity of the Syria conflict, news agency reports confirm the presence of both US and Russian troops in the Kurdish controlled Syrian town of Manbij.

Turkish soldiers patrol a road near Hacipasa, Hatay, Turkey near the border with Syria, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014.
(REPORT) — Back in August, Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria focused a lot on seizing ISIS territory along the border. At this point, all the easily claimable ISIS cities are gone, and Turkey’s forces are increasingly bumping up against the forces of the Syrian government.

Kurdish Fighters take positions at the top of Mount Annan overlooking the Tishrin dam, after they captured from ISIS militants, south of Kobani, Syria December 27, 2015. (Photo: Rodi Said)

The US has dramatically under-reported the number of civilians killed.

Last week, for the first time since the start of the War in Syria, Turkish forces, backed by the United States, crossed the Syrian border and openly intervened against so-called ‘Islamic State‘ forces with heavy artillery strikes on the city of Jarablus (controlled by ISIS), which is situated on the Turkey-Syria border and on the […]

(ANTIWAR) The Pentagon says it may have killed some additional civilians in its most recent airstrikes against the ISIS capital city of Raqqa, in northern Syria. They offered few details on how many civilians may have been among the slain.

(ANTIWAR) According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, US airstrikes against al-Ghandour in northern Syria have killed at least 28 civilians, including seven children. The town is near the city of Manbij, which has been a major target of US strikes over the past two months.

(ANTIWAR) The US-backed offensive in and around Manbij has been going on for two months, with only a part of the city and surrounding area ever captured. The failing offensive on the ground is being overshadowed however, by the US air campaign.