By Anadolu staff
AL-BAB, Syria (AA) - The opposition Syrian National Army (SNA) has taken control of 80% of the northern Syrian district of Manbij as part of Operation Dawn of Freedom, targeting the PKK/YPG terror group, security sources reported Sunday.
The SNA, advancing through the northern and western parts of Manbij, continues to clash with PKK/YPG fighters, who have occupied the area since 2016.
Residents of Manbij have joined the efforts, rising up against the terror group and rescuing prisoners held in local jails. The district’s population is overwhelmingly Arab.
Earlier in the operation, the SNA captured the town of Orayma and the village of Awn Al-Dadat from the terrorists.
Launched on Dec. 1, Operation Dawn of Freedom began with the SNA clearing the Tel Rifaat district center of PKK/YPG terrorists. The operation aims to reclaim territory in northern Syria and restore security to the region.
- Manbij's importance
Despite the promises of the US and Russia, the PKK/YPG terrorists had seized the Manbij district as a result of an attack launched with the support of the US between May and August 2016.
The US had promised Türkiye that the PKK/YPG terrorists would leave the district after the district was cleared of the Daesh/ISIS terrorists, but it did not fulfill this promise.
Moscow also undertook to remove the terrorist organization from Manbij in an agreement reached with Ankara during Türkiye Operation Peace Spring in October 2019 and announced that the terrorists had left, but the terrorist organization did not leave.
The Manbij region was of central importance in the terrorist PKK/YPG's plan to open a terror corridor starting from the Syria-Iraq border and reaching the Mediterranean in western Syria.
Türkiye had dealt a blow to preparations to establish a direct connection between Afrin-Tel Rifaat and Manbij with Operation Euphrates Shield in August 2016.
- Terrorist PKK/YPG seeks to exploit security vacuum
Amid setbacks for the Assad regime since the re-ignition of the conflict in Syria, the terrorist PKK/YPG is seeking to exploit the unclear security situation.
In its 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, infants, and the elderly.
The YPG is the PKK's offshoot in Syria, the scene of the current fighting, and an area where for years the group has tried to establish a terrorist corridor along the Turkish border.
In recent years Türkiye has deployed troops and worked with local allies such as the opposition Syrian National Army to prevent this and keep locals safe from terrorist oppression.
- Developments in Syria
Clashes broke out between Assad regime forces and anti-regime armed groups on Nov. 27 in rural areas west of Aleppo, a major city in northern Syria.
On Nov. 30, anti-regime groups took control of most of the center of Aleppo from regime forces, and on the same day, they gained control over the entire Idlib province. Last Thursday, after fierce clashes, the groups took the city center of Hama from regime forces.
Anti-regime groups captured some settlements in the strategically important province of Homs, a gateway to the capital Damascus, and started to advance there.
On Friday, armed opposition groups launched an operation in the Daraa province on Syria's border with Jordan and recaptured the city center from the regime forces after clashes.
On Saturday, the entire province of Suwayda in southern Syria also came under the control of opposition groups. On the same day, local opposition groups in Quneitra also took control of the provincial center.
In the province of Homs, which leads to the capital, anti-regime forces took control of the provincial center on Saturday.
Groups advancing against Assad regime forces entered the southern suburbs of Damascus later on Saturday. Regime forces also withdrew from the Defense and Interior ministries and the international airport in Damascus.
As anti-regime armed groups started to dominate the capital, the Assad regime on Sunday morning quickly lost all control of Damascus.
In Operation Dawn of Freedom launched by the opposition Syrian National Army against the terrorist organization PKK/YPG in rural areas of Aleppo on Dec.1, the Tel Rifaat district center was liberated from terrorism.
*Writing by Serdar Dincel