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How Kurdish-Arab strife is hindering work of Syria's 'White Helmets'

The negotiations for a new office of the Syrian Civil Defense in areas liberated by the Islamic State in Syria have been interrupted by major skirmishes between the Arab and Kurdish forces in these areas.
A woman stands along a damaged street in Manbij, Aleppo Governorate, Syria, August 16, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTX2LBQT

GAZIANTEP, Turkey — Negotiations to set up a branch of the Syrian Civil Defense (SCD) in areas recently retaken from the Islamic State (IS) have been halted, as a severe lack of trust continues to undermine relations between Kurdish and Arab populations in the north of Syria.

The informal talks were held in late August between SCD members and those involved in the temporary management of the city of Manbij after it was taken from IS earlier in the month. One of the participants told Al-Monitor the talks were heavily affected by previous arrests of SCD members in a Kurdish-majority area in the same region, equipment confiscated and a center thought to have been shut down by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) this spring in Afrin, the only Kurdish-dominated area where the group had previously been working.

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