Manbij offensive

Not even 24 hours after a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and U.S. President Barack Obama a U.S. military delegation came to Ankara. 

Ankara is closely following reports of a planned operation by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northern Syrian town of Manbij, held by fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Turkish military officials have stated, expressing readiness to shell Syrian Kurdish forces in the event of a violation of "Turkey's red line."

Turkish artillery strikes in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Syria have had a "very good effect," said U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition spokesperson on Jan. 14.

Developments show that it is the powers that defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) who will determine the future of Syria and Iraq. All of the accusations leveled at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are correct, of course, but the real enemy for the world today is not him but ISIL. 

An alliance of Kurdish and Arab rebels advanced Dec. 24 against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria's north in a new offensive backed by U.S.-led air strikes, its spokesman said.

Talal Sello, spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, told AFP the SDF offensive was launched late Dec. 23 in the Aleppo province.  

The United States has delivered a fresh supply of ammunition to Syrian Arab fighters ahead of an expected stiff battle with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as they push toward the Syrian town of al-Shadadi, a key logistics hub for the group, U.S. officials told Reuters.