Heavy Fighting in Manbij Countryside as NES Death Toll Tops 250

SDF and Turkish-backed SNA clash in Manbij countryside

• Heavy fighting has occurred west of the Euphrates River as the SDF’s counter-offensive has seen the ground-clashes move away from Tishreen Dam and Qereqozak bridge, further into the eastern Manbij countryside, particularly around Abu Qalqal

• SNA shelling and Turkish drone strikes have continued on the Qaraqozak Bridge vicinity

• YPG spokesperson Siyamend Ali said that “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”

• Numerous videos circulated claiming to show the presence of the SDF inside Manbij city, however this has not been confirmed in any comments from SDF spokespeople who have said in numerous interviews of late that the SDF is still several miles from the city, with the most recent comment from Shakir Arab, an SDF commander, who today told local news agency ANHA that the SDF were 14km from the city center

  
  

SDF commander says Turkish threat to Kobane “still very high”; Turkish/SNA attacks outside Manbij hotspots continue

• While the SDF’s advance has pushed the ground fighting away from the crucial crossing points of Tishreen Dam and Qereqozak Bridge, which connect the Manbij countryside to that of Kobane, SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi said that “there is a real danger” of Turkish attack on Kobane, with “Turkish military build-ups still ongoing” after Turkey did not respond to the SDF’s offer of a demilitarized zone

• An SDF source told RIC Turkey “doesn’t want to appear as the only party who insists on continuing conflict in Syria at this phase” so it is “in search of a plan to invade Kobane without receiving harsh international criticism and US sanctions”

• Kobane’s countryside is under daily bombardment from SNA shelling – on the 28th, shelling on Aslanki village caused civilian injuries

• A Turkish drone strike on a car in Tabqa countryside injured two civilians on the 29th

• A Turkish drone strike on an Asayish point in al-Hisha village, east of Ayn Issa, left no casualties today – while SNA shelling on the contact-line villages around Ayn Issa continued

• Local news agency North Press reports that the SNA’s Military Police – a body set up by Turkey supposedly to curb criminal practices within the SNA – have been carrying out arrests-for-ransom in Tel Rifaat, with at least 22 civilians in Shehba arrested, charged with “collaborating with the DAANES” and then released if they were able to make a payment

• Afrin Human Rights organization has been reporting near-daily such occurrences in Shehba as a whole and told RIC that the ‘Joint Force’ factions (Suleiman Shah and Hamza) are responsible for most of the rights violations and criminal activity in Shehba and Manbij right now

  
  

Tense calm prevails in Aleppo city after brief clash in Ashrafiyeh neighbourhood

• While Aleppo city has seen a tense calm prevail, with no clashes reported between the SDF and HTS, two SNA militiamen recently attempted to enter Aleppo’s DAANES-linked Ashrafiyeh neighbourhood and were shot dead by SDF units on the 27th; a bomb was then thrown from an SNA vehicle towards an SDF checkpoint on the edge of Ashrafiyeh on the 28th; the SDF returned fire; no further clashes ensued

• A civilian source in the neighbourhood told RIC: “Two people were killed in Ashrafiyeh. They had come up to an Asayish checkpoint to pass into the neighbourhood. The Asayish told them ‘you can’t enter wearing military clothes’. The two were connected to the SNA. Suleiman Shah and Muntasir Billah factions. The Asayish told them to leave, that they couldn’t enter. The roads around the neighbourhood are closed with earth barricades. They then wanted to enter the neighbourhood by jumping over the barricades. They were subsequently killed, as they were trying to force their way in. Then their relatives, one day later, came to ‘get revenge’. They were not HTS. They were connected to the Turkish-backed factions. They threw a bomb – one member of the Asayish was injured – but actually their bomb didn’t go properly and one from amongst the three was killed, one injured, one fled. We still don’t know what their aim was in coming into the neighbourhood – to engineer chaos and division? Or something else… we don’t know. Or maybe the Turkish intelligence gave them money to do something? But I can say that these checkpoints around Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh are doing a good job.”

  
  

SDF-HTS dialogue prospects

• In an interview, SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi said that direct negotiations with HTS have still not materialized, and that communications are limited to “field coordination” to avoid clashes. Abdi expressed readiness to “work with the new government in Damascus in operations” against ISIS, with the latter’s activities spiking of late – most recently a sleeper cell attack on an Asayish vehicle on the road between Shaddadi and al-Dashisha left two Asayish injured.

• SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami claimed that the lack of dialogue between the two sides up to now was a result of Turkish pressure: “Turkey prevents dialogue between the Autonomous Administration and the Damascus government”

  
  

New developments in the Turkish-occupied M4 Strip

• The SDF’s Sere Kaniye Military Council announced that it was beginning new operations in the Turkish-occupied Sere Kaniye countryside “in response to the ongoing attacks by the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries”

• SDF reported targeting SNA positions in al-Rayhaniya, al-Qasimiya, Dibis, al-Aziziya, al-Arisha, Arbashin, Delshir Hill, al-Manakh, and al-Kunair

• UK-based SOHR reported that 20 SNA militiamen attempted to leave and return to their home regions and were caught and arrested by the Sultan Murad faction

• A circular issued by the SNA’s ‘Joint Force’ (Turkmen heavyweight factions Suleiman Shah and Hamza, both of whom are very close to Turkey) proclaimed that any SNA militiamen seeking to leave the Turkish-occupied regions of northern Syria and head to their homes will be arrested – or killed if they refuse to comply