The United States has established at least three observation posts along the Turkish-Syrian border in an apparent dismissal of Turkish concerns about their role, an official with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) asserted today. The move highlights the complexities bedeviling the United States’ efforts to maintain a military presence in Syria with the help of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), who are the core component of the SDF, while scrambling to appease fellow NATO ally Turkey.
Contacted via telephone in northeast Syria, the SDF official — who spoke on condition that he not be identified by name — said the posts had been established in Kobane, Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ain in US-protected territory along Syria’s northeastern border with Turkey.
