The Takeaway: Syrian-Kurdish fault line intensifies as Erdogan vows to crush ‘separatist terror’

Syrian, Russian, Turkish forces take positions as Kurdish leaders send plea for attention to incoming Biden administration.
A Turkish soldier stands near his armoured vehicle on a highway near the northern Syrian town of Ain Issa in the countryside of the Raqqa region, on November 26, 2019, as Turkey-backed forces deploy reinforcements around the key town. - Ankara and its Syrian proxies launched on October 9 a cross-border attack against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, which allowed Turkey, along with a subsequent Russian-Turkish accord, to control a strip of land on the Syrian side of the border. Ain Issa lies on the south
A Turkish soldier stands near his armored vehicle on a highway near the northern Syrian town of Ain Issa in the countryside of the Raqqa region, on Nov. 26, 2019, as Turkey-backed forces deploy reinforcements around the key town. - BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images
andrew parasiliti
Andrew Parasiliti
@ATParasiliti

Syrian town of Ain Issa flashpoint for latest phase in conflict

Most of Ain Issa’s 7,000 people are fleeing escalating violence between the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The small town, less than 30 miles from Tell Abyad, which is on the border with Turkey, is also a node on the strategic M4 highway from Iraq via Aleppo to the Syrian coast. Northeast Syria has also been a mix of Arab, Kurdish and Druze communities, which until the war has mostly lived peacefully. No more.

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