Rojava

U.S. troops will not withdraw from Manbij, a strategically important city in northern Syria, Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of the United States Central Command, told CNN International on Jan. 28. 

A total of 557 Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants have been “neutralized” since the beginning of “Operation Olive Branch” in the northwestern Syria district of Afrin, the Turkish military said on Jan. 28. 

Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ has criticized United States officials for giving contradicting statements concerning Turkey’s operation to Syria’s Afrin, vowing to clear Manbij and east of the Euphrates River from the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG), unless the U.S.

Mount Bursaya in the northeast of the Syrian district of Afrin was cleared of People’s Protection Units (YPG) militants on Jan. 28 by the Turkish military under “Operation Olive Branch,” state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Jan. 28 that 484 Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militants were “neutralized” during Turkey’s “Operation Olive Branch” in Afrin, which was launched on Jan. 20 with aims to remove YPG militants from the region.

Turkey and the United States have agreed to work to de-escalate tension between the two long-standing allies over the latter’s support to the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria as the Turkish military carries out a massive operation to defeat it along its borders.

Two Turkish soldiers were killed, while 11 others were wounded with no life threatening injuries during clashes with Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militants during military operation in Syria’s Afrin on Jan. 27, Turkish military said.

One more rocket fired from Syria’s northwestern province of Afrin by suspected militants of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) hit Turkey’s border province of Kilis on Jan. 27.

The United States needs to withdraw from northern Syria's Manbij region immediately, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Jan. 27.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım on Jan. 26 criticized the U.S. for its providing weapons to the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), questioning why it, despite having “a huge army,” needed the YPG militia on the ground in Syria.