The US-led coalition will press ahead with the establishment of observation posts to deconflict Turkish and Kurdish forces along the Syrian-Turkish border despite Turkish objections, according to sources with intimate knowledge of coalition planning.

Speaking to Al-Monitor on the condition they not be identified, the sources recalled that Turkey had justified its military buildup along the Syrian border facing territory controlled by Syrian Kurdish forces and its plans to invade on the grounds that the militants known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG) were firing at Turkey “all the time.” The sources asserted that with coalition forces deployed in the border area, they would be in a position to ascertain where the Turks are being shot at and prevent the YPG from doing so. The reality, however, in the words of one of the sources, is that the “YPG is not firing across the border.”

Turkey continues to exert pressure over the US administration to scotch its partnership with the YPG because of the group’s tight links with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, who are fighting a bloody insurgency within Turkey. To Ankara the deployment of coalition forces along the border looks more like protecting the militants against Turkey than the other way round.

The United States Central Command, which oversees operations in Syria, did not respond to Al-Monitor’s request for comment. But a commander in the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces told Al-Monitor via WhatsApp, “US forces have already done reconnaissance work along the border. No observation posts have yet been established but there are 12 being planned in Kobani, Tell Abyad, [Ras al-Ain] and Amude.” The places he mentioned all lie within the US-protected zone and close to the Turkish border. The commander added, “Construction is expected to start very soon.” Previous media reports citing Syrian Kurdish officials put the number of planned observation posts at five.